The utilization and management of veld, with special reference to the role of the browsing animal. 1. An assessment of the ecological basis of game ranching in southern African savannas.

Abstract

Game and cattle ranching are compared at the three successive levels of primary production, efficiency of vegetation use and secondary production. It appears that the increase in grass growth following bush clearing more than offsets the loss in edible browse, but there is a need for more data. The multiple species utilization theory is considered to have been given an incorrect emphasis. Mixed herbivore communities do make better use of vegetation, but it is the enormous amount of overlap and flexibility in their habitat preferences, movements and diet which is important and which gives the system stability, rather than the earlier concept of non-overlapping, rather rigid separation. At the secondary production level it is concluded that game are less efficient than cattle for meat production. Integrated game and cattle ranching may well be the optimum form of land use and there is a need for a long-term policy aimed at domestication and selection and breeding programmes using the larger browsing species.

Keywords: breeding programme; browsers; bush clearing; cattle; domestication; game; game ranching; habitat preferences; land use; management; meat production; primary production; role; savanna; southern africa; utilization; vegetation use