Abstract:
In Kenya, under intensive promotion, black rhinos and other herbivores have been forced to live in confined areas mainly due to poaching. Establishment of these protection areas has been known to save endangered animals from extinction, but sometimes it has failed because of factors that were unknown or not fully understood. Information on the available browse and preference by black rhino together with forage overlap between the rhino and other herbivores is important to plan for minimum viable habitat for use by the black rhino within these protected areas hence the aim of this study; to first investigated browse availability and then through study of the dietary composition of the Rhino, Giraffe and the Elephant determine whether black rhino was in serious competition (browse overlap) with the Giraffe and Elephant or if there was any systematic resource partitioning between them. The study was done in Ngulia Rhino Sanctuary (an enclosed area) and the IPZ (non-enclosed area).The study commenced in September 2009 and ended in February oli20l l. The PCQ method was used to assess browse availability and microhistological analysis to detennine dietary composition. It was evident fi"om the results that there was variation in browse availability between the composition of plant species recorded in the sanctuary and the IPZ. A total of 33 plant species were recorded exclusively inside the sanctuary while 21 plant species were exclusively recorded in the IPZ. The t-test showed that there was no significant difference in terms of density between the two sites as p>0.05 in all cases. Results from microhistological analysis showed a total of 51 plant species identified in the feacal samples for the species in both die wet and the dry season. It was concluded that black rhinos, elephants and giraffe are capable of selecting their food independent of availability. Each of the three herbivores had their preferred plant species at any one particular time and location, nevertheless the three browsers greatly overlapped in their diet indicating that long-time coexistence in an enclosed area like the sanctuary would not be sustainable hence continuous monitoring and evaluation of their population with regards to the vegetation dynamics of the sanctuary and the IPZ should be prioritized in the management plans of Tsavo West National Park.
