Feeding preferences and nutritional niche of wild water buffalo (Bubalus arnee) in Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve, Nepal.

We sought to further the understanding of how an animal’s foraging ecology is influenced by their feeding preferences and nutritional composition of forage items. Our research identified these aspects of wild water buffalo’s (Bubalus arnee) foraging ecology in Nepal. First, we sought to describe the foraging preferences of wild water buffalo in terms of the relative abundance of functional forage groups (i.e., forbs, graminoids, and browse) in their diet. We observed signs of wild water buffalo foraging on 54 plant species. We found wild water buffalo consume graminoids and forbs 2-3 times more frequently than browse items. Then, we investigated the composition of nutrients (i.e., carbohydrates, proteins, and lipids) in wild water buffalo diets to develop an estimate of their realized nutrient niche. Of the 54 plant species foraged, we analyzed the nutritional composition of the 16 most frequently foraged species. We found the realized nutrient niche of wild water buffalo is dominated b...