nutrition 101 | management
Craig ShepstoneHERBIVORES
HERBIVOREGUTTYPESExPLAINED–PART 2
In the previous article, the reader was introduced to the different
digestive classes or categories that exist for African ungulates larger
than a blue duiker. It discussed how the different classes differ with
regard to what forage they select and what mechanisms they have to
degrade and digest it. The article also stressed the importance of the
symbiotic/mutualistic relationship that exists between the host animal
and the population of gut flora (microbes) that assist the animal in
converting the selected forage into essential nutrients the animals
absorb in the different parts of the gastrointestinal tract (GIT).BACKGROUND
T
o recap, herbivores are
animals that select and eat
the most palatable foliage
available as a food source.
Their mouthparts are adapted to
select, grind and/or rasp selected
plant matter (grass and leaves
from shrubs, small stems and tree
bark) into smaller particles. These
smaller particles are swallowed
with copious amounts of saliva for
further degradation and digestion
in the gut, where the fibrous plant
matter gets converted to volatile fatty
acids (energy) and other essential
nutrients with the assistance of the
gut flora living in the foregut and/or
hindgut.
The most important flora is the
cellulose digesting bacteria and
protozoans.
The hippopotamus produces
energy by fermenting the
fibrous part of its food in the
pseudo rumen cranial (in front) to the
gastric stomach (foregut fermenters).
The white rhinoceros produces
its energy by fermenting the
fibrous component of its food in the
caecum colon area caudal (behind)
to the gastric stomach (hindgut
fermenters). >>In the second article in our series on gut types, we look at two
large grass-eating mega-herbivores: the hippopotamus and the white
rhinoceros. The hippopotamus is a foregut fermenter and the white
rhinoceros a hindgut fermenter. This article focuses on the differences
between the two species, describing their digestive strategies in
converting plant matter into energy and other essential nutrients.