Feeding Preference and Movement Patterns of the African Elephant (Loxodonta Africana) and Vegetation Parameters in Babile Elephant Sanctuary, Ethiopia.
| dc.contributor.advisor | Bekele Afework (Professor) | |
| dc.contributor.author | Biru Yihew | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2019-10-30T12:43:27Z | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2023-11-09T04:20:39Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2019-10-30T12:43:27Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2023-11-09T04:20:39Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2009-06-05 | |
| dc.description.abstract | Seasonal dietary composition, feeding preference and movement patterns of elephants were studied in Babile Elephant Sanctuary (BES) from August 2008 to April 2009. Elephants eat fruits and other parts of 75 plant species (61 wild and 14 cultivated). Data on fresh feeding signs either browsed or barked showed 51 species, while an examination of elephant dung piles yielded seeds representing 21 species of which seven of them were not seen in diet observation in the field. Browse accounted larger proportion of forage in the diet of elephants during both seasons, Acacia species being the most important component of the diet. Using direct diet assessment observations over two seasons dietary preferences were calculated. The strongest preference was for Acacia robusta and Opuntia ficus-indica, while elephants exhibited a selective avoidance for the other important species in the diet including Combretum molle and Grewia flavescens. Three elephant bulls were fitted with GPS telemetry collar in order to study home range and movement patterns. Although it is not statistically significant elephants showed relatively larger home range during the wet season than the dry season (mean=611.8 ± 142.2 km2). Two distinct movement patterns were observed by the collared elephants in Babile both starting in a north to south direction. Elephants moved an average of 10 km per day which is considerably a lower distance in comparison with elephants in other parts of Africa. The average daily movement range of the bulls was 20 km2 which is about 3.3% of their total home range. They used about 20% of their home range outside the Sanctuary boundary in the north and south-west direction. The restricted movement patterns and home range of the elephants need immediate conservation measures. | en_US |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://etd.aau.edu.et/handle/123456789/19733 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | en_US |
| dc.publisher | Addis Ababa University | en_US |
| dc.subject | Dung Pile | en_US |
| dc.subject | GPS | en_US |
| dc.subject | Home Range | en_US |
| dc.subject | Movement Patterns | en_US |
| dc.subject | Preference | en_US |
| dc.subject | Telemetry | en_US |
| dc.title | Feeding Preference and Movement Patterns of the African Elephant (Loxodonta Africana) and Vegetation Parameters in Babile Elephant Sanctuary, Ethiopia. | en_US |
| dc.type | Thesis | en_US |