HIERARCHICAL FEEDING AND HABITAT SELECTION BY WHITE RHINOCEROS (CERATOTHERIUM SIMUM SIMUM) IN A MARGINAL HABITAT.

The spatiotemporal variations in the availability of food resources influence the movement of herbivores in a given area. In this study, variations in the selection of food resources by white rhinoceroses (Ceratotherium simum simum) was investigated in the Songimvelo Nature Reserve (South Africa) at three spatial scale levels (habitat, patch and grass species levels) during the two seasons (late wet and late dry season of a calendar year). White rhinoceros were tracked on foot, vehicle or horse, and individual groups were observed from a distance using binoculars to identify feeding habitats. At feeding habitat level, white rhinoceroses showed a preference for Low Open Woodlands and Old Lands during the late wet season but avoided Shrublands. No habitat preference was observed during the late dry season. At patch level, white rhinoceroses used patches with low rock cover and short leaf-table-height while remaining in the lower-lying areas of the Reserve. Rhinoceroses fed on grasses such as Heteropogon contortus, Themeda triandra and Eragrostis spp. during both seasons. The model selection at feeding patch level revealed that grass species presence, mean tuft diameter and species density were the most critical factors driving grass species selection in patches. This study provides evidence that white rhinoceroses’ feeding behaviour changes at different spatial scales which result in different patterns of habitat use and movement in time and space within a given area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]