Reference Base Notes on the status of black rhino in the Ngorongoro Crater |
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Location: |
Africa - Eastern Africa - Tanzania |
Subject: |
Ecology - Food |
Species: |
Black Rhino |
Tanzania, Ngorongoro. It has proved difficult to determine the precise diet of the rhinos as they often feed in long grass, where their food plants (herbs and saplings) are obscured from view. A detailed study in the 1960s showed that various species of legume (e.g. Indigofera) make up the bulk of the rhino's diet on the Crater floor (Goddard, 1968). Species confirmed to be eaten are Solanum incanum, Justicia betonica and Datura stramonium; these three species are colonisers of disturbed soils and Datura is an exotic weed from Central America.
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