Nutritive value of indigenous browse in Africa in relation to the needs of wild ungulates

From a review of published information on the nutritive value of indigenous browse in Africa, the intake of ruminant species of wild ungulates and the energy requirements for maintenance of these animals, an analysis has been carried out to assess the supply of energy and protein from browse in relation to meeting requirements. Although there are a large number of data giving chemical composition of browse, there is relatively little information on digestibility and energy value. Results on intake and energy requirements have been reported for a few species of wild ungulates and these have been used as such or formed the basis of derived values for other species. The analysis indicates that for four species of wild ungulates, differing in size from 20 to 500 kg, the intake of metabolisable energy may be 12–27% greater than or substantially less than the amount required for maintenance. The difference arises from the choice of values for fasting metabolism. The establishment of models of energy and protein systems, together with more measurements on the nutritive value of indigenous browse are advocated in order to obtain a better knowledge of the nutrient needs and productivity of wild ungulates that utilize indigenous browse.