A Study of the Feeding Habits of the Hippopotamus ( Hippopotamus Amphibius Linn.) in the Queen Elizabeth National Park, Uganda, With Some Management Implications

Abstract

The concept of the ecological separation of species has for long been accepted to be of fundamental biological importance. Detailed studies of the feeding habits of a variety of species suggest that in practice ecological niches are not clearcut and considerable overlap in the feeding habits of different species occurs. The author has been carrying out a comparative study of the feeding habits of six of the more important species of grazing mammals occurring in the Queen Elizabeth National Park. The feeding habits of the dominant grazing herbivore, the hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphiblus Linn.) called for special attention and forms the subject of this paper.