Food for the buffalo

Abstract

The most critical limiting quality parameter for herbivores is nitrogen (protein) (Sinclair 1977, White 1978, Mattson 1980, Ydenberg and Prins 1981, Berry and Louw 1982, Ketelaars 1986). Buffalo are herbivores, and, thus, to them nitrogen appears to be the most important food quality parameter too (Sinclair 1977). Ruminants are a special category of herbivores to which buffalo also belong. In ruminants digestibility of the food determines the throughput rate of the food in the gut. Digestibility itself depends on the nitrogen content of the food. Hence, in ruminants food intake is related to the nitrogen concentration of the food (Van Soest 1982). The most critical factor regarding the amount of food for herbivores is the density of the food on offer, that is whether it can be collected in the time that is available (Allden and Whittaker 1970, Stobbs 1973a,b, Short 1986). I will come to the problem of time limitation in Manyara buffalo later but will first discuss the buffalo’s energy and nutrient requirements.