Short duration overnight cattle kraaling in natural rangelands: Does time after kraal use affect their utilization by wildlife and above ground grass parameters?

Rangarirai Huruba; Servious Nemera; Faith Ngute; Meshack Sahomba; Peter J Mundy; Allan Sebata; Duncan N MacFadyen

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0248795

Short duration overnight cattle kraaling in natural rangelands: Does time after kraal use affect their utilization by wildlife and above ground grass parameters?

PLoS One. 2022 Apr 28;17(4):e0248795. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0248795. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Rangarirai Huruba^{1

2

3}, Servious Nemera¹, Faith Ngute^{1

2}, Meshack Sahomba², Peter J Mundy¹, Allan Sebata¹, Duncan N MacFadyen³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Forest Resources & Wildlife Management, National University of Science & Technology, Ascot, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe.
² Debshan Ranch, Shangani, Zimbabwe.
³ E Oppenheimer & Son (Pty) Limited, Parktown, South Africa.

Abstract

In east and southern Africa some private ranch owners are corralling (hereafter kraaling) cattle overnight for short periods (for example, seven days) in natural rangelands to create nutrient enriched hotspots which are attractive to large herbivores. However, the effect of season and time after kraal use (alt. age of nutrient enriched hotspots) on large herbivore use of these sites has not been examined. We collated the number of large herbivore sightings per day from camera traps during wet, early and late dry season in nutrient enriched hotspots of varying ages (1, 2, 3 and 4 years) and surrounding vegetation. In addition, above ground grass biomass and height in nutrient enriched hotspots was compared to that of the surrounding vegetation. Furthermore, we tested if repeated grazing in nutrient enriched hotspots stimulated grass compensatory growth. Large herbivore use of nutrient enriched hotspots was similar during wet, early and late dry season. Time after kraal use had a significant effect on mixed feeders (impala and African savanna elephant) utilization of nutrient enriched hotspots but not grazers (zebra and warthog) and browsers (giraffe and greater kudu). Both impala and African savanna elephants mostly used nutrient enriched hotspots one year after kraal use. Aboveground grass biomass and height were higher in surrounding vegetation than in nutrient enriched hotspots. Repeated clipping (proxy for grazing) resulted in compensatory aboveground grass biomass in nutrient enriched hotspots, which declined with time after kraal use. We concluded that nutrient enriched hotspots created through short duration overnight kraaling were important foraging sites for large herbivores.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Animals
Animals, Wild*
Biomass
Cattle
Elephants*
Herbivory
Poaceae
Swine
Time Factors

Grants and funding

DM and RH received support from E Oppenheimer & Son Pvt Ltd in form of salaries for the period of the study and are still employed under the Research and Conservation division. MS received support from Debshan Pvt Ltd through the form of a salary. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. The specific roles of these authors are articulated in the ‘author contributions’ section.