Helary Stephane F, Shaw Joanne A, Brown Derek, Clauss Marcus, Owen-Smith Norman
Centre for African Ecology, School of Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Private Bag 3, Wits 2050, South Africa.
J Zoo Wildl Med. 2012 Sep;43(3 Suppl):S48-54. doi: 10.1638/2011-0153.1.
Although excessive iron storage in black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis) has been a cause for continuous concern over the last four decades and differences in the iron content of diet items fed in captivity and in the wild have been documented, no reports exist on the iron content of the total diet ingested by free-ranging animals. Here, the results of field studies using backtracking to record the ingested diets of black rhinoceros from three habitats across three seasons are reported. Levels of iron and of condensed tannins, which might reduce iron availability, averaged at 91 +/- 41 ppm dry matter and 3.0 +/- 1.0% dry matter, respectively, across all habitats and seasons. Although geographic and seasonal variation was significant, these differences are of a much lower magnitude than differences between the averages of these diets and those fed to black rhinoceros in captivity. The results can provide guidelines for the iron content of diets designed for black rhinoceros and suggest that the effect of tannins in these species should be further investigated.
尽管在过去四十年里，黑犀（Diceros bicornis）体内铁储存过多一直令人持续担忧，且已有文献记载圈养和野生黑犀所喂食的食物中铁含量存在差异，但关于自由放养动物摄入的总食物中铁含量尚无报告。在此，报告了利用回溯法记录三个季节里来自三种栖息地的黑犀摄入食物的野外研究结果。在所有栖息地和季节中，可能会降低铁利用率的铁和缩合单宁的含量平均分别为91±41 ppm干物质和3.0±1.0%干物质。尽管地理和季节差异显著，但这些差异的幅度远低于这些食物的平均值与圈养黑犀所喂食食物平均值之间的差异。这些结果可为设计黑犀食物的铁含量提供指导，并表明应进一步研究这些物种中单宁的作用。
