Anoa (Bubalus spp.) Food Plants in Tanjung Peropa Wildlife Reserve, Southeast Sulawesi

Abdul Haris Mustari

Department of Forest Resources Conservation, Faculty of Forestry,
Bogor Agricultural University, Indonesia
(haris.anoa@yahoo.com)

SUMMARY

A total of 46 species of anoa food plants (leaves and shoots) and two species of fruits that were known to be eaten by the animals in their natural habitat were analyzed using Proximate analysis. Browsing signs of the animals on these plants were observed in the forests, indicating that these food plants were potentially eaten by the animals in the natural habitats. Some of the analysed food plants, such as Merremia peltata, Physalis minima, and bamboos (Schizostachyum lima and cf Schizostachyum brachycladum), were also identified microscopically as the predominant food plants in the diets of the animals.

Percentages of the nutrients in the food plants varied considerably. Percent of crude protein was 5.58 -21.60 (mean 12.70; SD 4.34), while percent of crude fibre varied from 14.68 to 62.68 (mean 36.93; SD 12.07). Percentage of ether extract in the food plants was 0.91-11.5 (mean 2.38; SD 1.75). Percent of nitrogen-free extractives ranges between 0.76 and 52.31 (mean 24.64; SD 15.20), while gross energy of the food plants was 2419-3583 cal/g (mean 3093; SD 282.82). The majority (65%) of the food plants have a percentage of crude protein above 10%.

Merremia peltata, Physalis minima, and bamboos (Schizostachyum lima and cf Schizostachyum brachycladum), which were among the predominant food plants of anoa in Kalobo-Tanjung Peropa WR, did not differ significantly in percentages of their nutritional contents, except that Physalis minima contained a comparatively high proportion of crude protein (20.04%). Merremia which composed about one-third of the proportion of the diets of the animals, has only 11.66% of crude protein and the bamboos Schizostachyum lima and cf Schizostachyum brachycladum had even lower crude protein contents, 10.44% and 6.06% respectively. These bamboos have a high content of crude fibre, 37.54% and 43.07% respectively.

Other inferred food plants that have relatively high percentages of crude protein included Trema orientalis (21.60%), Acalypha boehmerioides (19.82%), and cf Micromelon minutum (19.38%), yet they were not found in the analyzed faecal samples of the animals. Sonneratia alba, a mangrove species, was frequently browsed by lowland anoa in Amolengo and showed the highest percentage of nitrogen-free extractives (52.31%) among the food plants, yet its crude protein content (10.45%) did not significantly differ from those of other food-plant species.

Crude protein and crude fibre contents of the fruits of Diospyros pilosanthera and Eugenia sp. are lower than those of their leaves and shoots, yet higher nitrogen-free-extractives and gross energy suggest that these fruits have higher digestibility and the animals could get instant energy by consuming the fruits.