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PRINT: ISSN 2221-1896
ONLINE : ISSN 2223-0343
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Feed resources abundance for wild and domestic
herbivores in Miombo woodlands of Western Tanzania
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Pius Yoram Kavana1* and Victor Alexander
Mwijage Kakengi2
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1Mahale-Gombe Wildlife Research Centre, P.O. Box
1053, Kigoma, Tanzania; 2Tanzania Wildlife Research
Institute, P.O. Box 661, Arusha, Tanzania
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Abstract |
Grasses are the main feed
resource for both wild and domestic grazing herbivores. Ecological
processes associated with grazing have been stable for millions of years
since emergence of grasses and grazers in ancient time. However, current
expanding human population, escalating , degradation of natural
resources, increasing socio-economic pressures and current climate
changes have all increased the complexity associated with the
availability of feed resources for both wild and domestic herbivores.
This situation compelled initiation of the study to assess feed
resources in Miombo woodlands of Western Tanzania. The study involved four
districts and twenty six villages. Results indicate that livestock
keepers experience feed shortage for grazing herbivores within village
lands for a period of 5 to 6 months within a year. Quality of forage
feed resources available in Miombo woodland for both wild and domestic
herbivore vitiates with advance in dry season. Results indicate Total
Digestible Nutrient (TDN) decline with advance of plants maturity from
January to December. Furthermore, results indicate that nutritive value
of pastures in Miombo woodlands was relatively lower during the dry
season than wet season. In addition, results indicate that percentage of
unavailable protein (protein bound to lignin) in pastures within Miombo
woodlands was relatively lower during the dry season than wet season but
the reason for this phenomenon is unknown hitherto. It has been
concluded that pastures available within Miombo woodlands of
Western Tanzania are relatively lower in
quality during the dry season than wet season.
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Keywords:
domestic herbivore; feed resources; grazing, Miombo woodland; wild
herbivore; Western Tanzania |
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To cite this article:
Kavana PY and
VAM Kakengi, 2014.
Feed
resources abundance for wild and domestic herbivores in Miombo woodlands
of Western Tanzania.
Res.
Opin. Anim. Vet. Sci., 4(3), 150-156. |
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