TY - JOUR AU - Mimoun, Jamel Ben AU - Nouira, Saïd PY - 2015/11/23 Y2 - 2024/03/28 TI - Food habits of the aoudad Ammotragus lervia in the Bou Hedma mountains, Tunisia JF - South African Journal of Science JA - S. Afr. J. Sci. VL - 111 IS - 11/12 SE - Research Article DO - 10.17159/sajs.2015/20140448 UR - https://sajs.co.za/article/view/3803 SP - 5 AB - <p>A micro-histological analysis of composite faecal samples was used to determine the food plants consumed&nbsp;by the aoudad Ammotragus lervia (Barbary sheep) in the mountains of Bou Hedma National Park, as well as&nbsp;to study food preferences and seasonal variation of the diet of this ungulate. A total of 19 plant species was&nbsp;identified in the faecal samples: 8 grasses, 6 browse types and 5 forbs. The annual diet of this ungulate is&nbsp;composed of approximately 67% grasses, 17% browse and 16% forbs. Two grass species, Stipa parviflora&nbsp;and Stipa tenacissima, comprised 97% of grasses consumed and 63% of the annual diet, and were eaten&nbsp;in the year with considerably greater frequency than any other plant species. The diet of the aoudad at Bou&nbsp;Hedma National Park showed a seasonal variation. For example, grasses were consumed the entire year with&nbsp;a preference in spring (72.57%) and summer (78.31%), but their occurrence in the diet dropped in winter&nbsp;(38.7%). Browse was eaten preferentially in autumn (21.86%) and forbs were utilised most during winter&nbsp;(43.22%) and least during summer (7.53%). Our results show the plasticity of the Tunisian aoudad’s diet and&nbsp;identify it predominantly as a grazer.</p> ER -