E. Afr. Wildl. J . , 1974, Volume 12, pages 79-80

Notes and Records

Food habits of klipspringer

In recent years a number of food habit studies on African antelopes have contributed to the understanding of their feeding behaviour. Most attention has been given to grazers among the antelopes and knowledge on feeding of most browsers is still little known.

On Kekopey Ranch near GilGil, Kenya, an adult female, klipspringer (Oreofragus oreotragus Zimmermann), weighing 10.5 kg was collected on 7 August, 1971, at 09.00 hours. The animal was taken from bush-covered rocky hills rising to approxi- mately 75 m above the level of the adjacent flat grassland. A male klipspringer was also present. At the time the klipspringer was collected the pasture was dry after almost a month without rain. The nearest permanent waterpoint, a stock water trough in the grassland, was 2.2 km away. The weather was mild at 21"C, 30% nebulosity and a southeast wind of 1 on the Beaufort Scale.

In the collection area the dominant woody species above 1.5 m in height were leleshwa (Tarchonanthus camphoratus L.) 82%, whistling thorn (Acacia drepanolobium Sjoestedt) 8%, and Rhus natalensis Krauss 6%. Small shrubs below 1.5 m tall con- sisted of sodom apple (Solanum incanum L.) 76%, leleshwa 15%, and Hibiscus jlavifolius Ulbr. 5%. In the herb layer, grasses made up 96% and forbs only 4%. The major grass species were Cymbopogon spp. 19%, African couch grass (Digitaria scalarum (Schweinf.) Chiov.) 1 1 %, Guinea grass (Panicum maximum Jacq.) 8%, and red oat grass (Themeda triandra Forsk.) l 5X. The vegetation survey was based on the point-centred quarter method (Cottam & Curtis, 1956).

During the post mortem examination a sample of rumen content weighing approxi- mately 250 g was taken and placed in a jar containing 4% formalin. In the laboratory the sample was washed in a 1-mm mesh sieve. Plant fragments were randomly selected from the washed sample and identified microscopically from epidermal and other anatomic features.

Table 1 shows that the food of the klipspringer at this season had consisted almost entirely of dicotyledons. It had a high preference for small creeping legumes (various Rhynchosia spp.) which were common on shady places. These plants were found under 32% of all bushes in the area where the animal was collected. The klipspringer also showed preference for leaves from whistling thorn and particularly leaves from Carissu edulis (Forsk.) Vahl and Jusminum floribundum Fres. The latter two species were not recorded during the vegetation sampling so must not have been common in the area. The high proportion of dicotyledons in the klipspringer sample from Kekopey compares well with findings from seventy-four klipspringers collected in Zambia (Wilson & Child, 1965). Those animals were collected both during wet and dry seasons, and the contents of all stomachs examined contained at least 90% browse.

Rhynchosia spp. and leaves from whistling thorn were also eaten by impala feeding on Kekopey, but to a much smaller extent, and leleshwa was the only dicotyledon species eaten by the klipspringer which was also found in samples from cattle.

79

80 Notes and Records

Table 1. Plant species found i n rumen content from an adult femile hlipspringet at Kekopey Ranch in Augtist. 1971

Plant \pecit's "

Grasses C:i,tiorluti i~lrt?iJiieiisis Vanderyst 0.5 C~~tnhopl~~orr c!fic~flfIr.dl/s Stapf 0.5 Setcirirr pul/icl;/itscrr (Schumach.) Stapf & C. E. Hubb 0.5

Grasses I .5 Herbs

Rh?wchosia spp. 62.5

Woody plants Acacia drepanulobirctn Aspurypits aethiupicirs L. Curivrn edulis ./rrstiiitiuni flurihriiid~oti Turchotiritrthits catnphorrifiis

Woody plants

11.0 0.5 4.5 7.0 0 3

23.5

Unidentified dicotyledons 12.5 Total 100.0

The rumen content from the klipspringer consisted of 9 1 .5"/o leaves, 7% petioles or thin stems and only 1.5'; unidentified fruit parts.

'4 ckiiowledgmenr.s We are grateful to M r and Mrs Arthur Cole for allowing us to make this study on Kekopey and also to Mr Sylvester Masheti for his assistance in the field work. Vegetation work was done under the auspices of the Caesar Kleberg Program in Wildlife Ecology and FAO.

Reference, COTTAM, G & CURTIS. J.T (1956) The u3e of distance measures i n phytosociological sampling.

Wiisozi, V.J. & CHILD. G ( 1 965) Notes on klipspringer from tsetse fly control areas in eastern Zambia. E<O/U,~.I, 37, 45 1-460.

Attlo/d/r/, 1, 1-9

S . A. Qvortrup, Ken.pa Wildlife Management Project, P .O. Box 30559, Nairobi, Kenya. L. H . Blankenship, Texas A & M University Agricultural R e m m l i and E.vtension Center, U\ aide, Te.ua.s.