Hostname: page-component-7f64f4797f-bnl7t Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-11-04T15:39:25.300Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Game domestication for animal production in Kenya: activity patterns of eland, oryx, buffalo and zebu cattle

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2009

J. G. Lewis
J. G. Lewis
Affiliation:
African Wildlife Leadership Foundation, P.O. Box 48177, Nairobi, Kenya
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Studies of the day-time activity of night-enclosed eland, oryx, buffalo and cattle in a hot, semi-arid area in Kenya showed that, on average, eland spent 70% of the day feeding, oryx 60% and buffalo and cattle 52%.

The distribution of activity throughout the day of all species was similar and the mobile activities of feeding and walking tended to be concentrated in the early morning and late evening.

Correlation and multiple regression analyses were used to investigate changes in the activity of the animals in relation to changes in meterological and vegetative factors. The activity of both eland and buffalo was found to be particularly sensitive to the meterological factors.

The duration of feeding for cattle and buffalo was related to the state of the vegetation, but that of the oryx was not. Similar analyses were not possible for eland.

The activity of each species could be related to mouth size, feeding habits and the effectiveness of the animals' coat in dealing with conditions of high heat load.

It is concluded that a naturally short daily feeding time and an independence of activity from the environmental heat load on the animals are advantageous characteristics for a species under domestication in a hot semi-arid environment.

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Agricultural Science , Volume 89 , Issue 3 , December 1977 , pp. 551 - 563
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1977

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Allden, W. C. & Whittaker, I. A. McD. (1970). The determinants of herbage intake by grazing sheep: The interrelationships of factors influencing herbage intake and availability. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 1, 755–66.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Arnold, G. W. (1960). The effect of the quantity and quality of pasture available to sheep in the grazing behaviour. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 11, 1026–33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bennett, J. W. (1964). Thermal insulation of cattle coats. Animal Production 5, 160–6.Google Scholar
Blaxter, K. L., Wainman, F. W. & Wilson, R. S. (1961). The regulation of food intake by sheep. Animal Production 3, 51–61.Google Scholar
Burton, A. C. & Edholm, O. G. (1955). Man in a Cold Environment. London: Arnold.Google Scholar
Campling, R. C, Freer, M. & Balch, C. C. (1961). Factors affecting the voluntary intake of food by cows. II. The relationship between the voluntary intake of roughages, the amount of digestion in the reticulorumen and the rate of disappearance of digesta from the alimentary tract. British Journal of Nutrition 15, 531–40.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clough, G. & Hassan, A. G. (1970). A quantitative study of the daily activity of warthog in the Queen Elizabeth National Park. East African Wildlife Journal 8, 19–24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crawford, M. A. (1974). The case for new domesticated animals. Oryx 12, 351–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Field, C. R. (1975). Climate and food habits of ungulates on Galana Ranch. East African Wildlife Journal 13, 203–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Finch, V. A. (1973). Thermoregulation and heat balance in some East African herbivores. Ph.D. thesis, University of Nairobi.Google Scholar
Finch, V. A. (1972 a). Thermoregulation and heat balance of the East African Eland and Hartebeest. American Journal of Physiology 222, 1374–9.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Finch, V. A. (1972 b). Energy exchanges with the environment of two East African antelopes, the Eland and the Hartebeest. Symposium of the Zoological Society of London, no. 31, pp. 315–26.Google Scholar
Grimsdell, J. J. R. (1969). Ecology of the buffalo, Syncerus caffer, in Western Uganda. Ph.D. thesis, University of Cambridge.Google Scholar
Grimsdell, J. J. R. & Field, C. R. (1976). The daily activity of buffalo in Western Uganda. East African Wildlife Journal. (In the Press.)Google Scholar
Hafez, E. S. E., Schein, M. W. & Ewbank, R. (1962). The behaviour of cattle. In The Behaviour of Domestic Animals (ed. Hafez, E. S. E.). London: Baillière, Tindall and Cassell.Google Scholar
Hancock, J. (1953). Grazing behaviour of cattle. Animal Breeding Abstracts 20, 1–13.Google Scholar
Harker, K. W., Taylor, J. I. & Rollinson, D. H. L. (1954). Studies on the habits of zebu battle. I. Preliminary observations on grazing habits. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 44, 193–8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harker, K. W., Rollinson, D. H. L., Taylor, J. I., Gourlay, R. N. & Nunn, W. R. (1961). Studies in the habits of zebu cattle. VI. Results from different pastures. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 47, 44–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hofmann, R. R. (1973). The Ruminant Stomach. East African Monographs in Biology, volume 2. East African Literature Bureau, Nairobi.Google Scholar
Hutchinson, J. C. D. & Brown, G. D. (1969). Penetrance of cattle coats by radiation. Journal of Applied Physiology 26, 454–64.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jarman, P. J. (1974). The social organisation of antelopes in relation to their ecology. Behaviour 48, 215–67.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jarman, M. V. & Jarman, P. J. (1973). The daily activity of impala. East African Wildlife Journal 11, 75–92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jewell, P. A. (1969). Wild animals and their potential for new domestication. In The Domestication and Exploitation of Plants and Animals (ed. Ucko, P. J. and Dimbleby, G. W.). London: Duckworth.Google Scholar
Joubert, E. (1972). Activity patterns shown by mountain zebra in Southwest Africa with special reference to climatic factors. Zoologica Africana 7, 309–31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
King, J. M., Heath, B. R. & Hill, R. E. (1977). Game domestication for animal production in Kenya: Theory and practice. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 89, 445–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lewis, J. G. (1975). A comparative study of the activity of some indigenous East African ungulates and conventional stock under domestication. Ph.D. thesis, University of London.Google Scholar
Mckay, A. D. & Frandsen, P. E. (1969). Chemical and floristic components of the diet of zebu cattle, Bos indicus, in browse and grass range pastures in a semiarid upland area of Kenya. I. Crude protein. Tropical Agriculture, Trinidad 46, 279–92.Google Scholar
Milford, R. (1960). Nutritional values of seventeen subtropical grasses. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 11, 138–48.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nie, N., Bent, D. B. & Hull, C. H. (1970). Statistical Package for Social Sciences. U.S.A.: McGraw-Hill.Google Scholar
Rollinson, D. H. L., Harker, K. W., Taylor, J. I. & Leech, F. B. (1956). Studies on the habits of zebu cattle. IV. Errors associated with recording technique. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 47, 1–5.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Siegel, S. (1956). Non-parametric Statistics for the Behavioural Sciences. Kogukasha: McGraw-Hill.Google Scholar
Sinclair, A. R. E. (1970). Studies in the ecology of the East African buffalo. D.Phil, thesis, University of Oxford.Google Scholar
Skinner, J. D. (1970). Game ranching in Africa as a source of meat for local consumption and export. Tropical Animal Health and Production 2, 151–7.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, C. A. (1959). Studies on Northern Rhodesia Hyparrhenia veldt. I. The grazing behaviour of indigenous cattle grazed at light and heavy stocking rates. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 52, 369–75.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Skinner, J. D. (1967). An appraisal of the eland as a farm animal in Africa. Animal Breeding Abstracts 35, 177–86.Google Scholar
Sokal, R. R. & Rohlf, F. J. (1969). Biometry. San Francisco: W. H. Freeman.Google Scholar
Spinage, C. A. (1968). A quantitative study of the daily activity of the Uganda Defassa Waterbuck. East African Wildlife Journal 6, 89–93.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stewart, R. E. (1953). Absorption of solar radiation by hair of cattle. Agricultural Engineering 34, 235–8.Google Scholar
Talbot, L. M., Payne, W. J. A., Ledger, H. P. & Talbot, M. H. (1965). The meat production potential of wild animals in Africa. A review of biological knowledge. Commonwealth Bureau of Animal Breeding and Oenetics, Technical Communication, no. 16.Google Scholar
Vesey Fitzgerald, D. F. (1969). The utilisation of habitat by buffalo in Lake Manyara National Park. East African Wildlife Journal 7, 131–45.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wyatt, J. R. & Eltringham, S. K. (1974). The daily activity of the elephant in the Ruenzori National Park, Uganda. East African Wildlife Journal 12, 273–89.CrossRefGoogle Scholar