The impact of giraffe, rhino and elephant on the habitat of a black rhino sanctuary in Kenya
The habitat in an enclosed black rhino sanctuary, the Sweetwaters Game Reserve in Kenya, is being altered as populations of elephant, giraffee and black rhino increase. Height-specific browse impact data were recorded for 1075 trees of the dominant species, the whistling thorn, Acacia drepanolobium. Rhinos and elephants browsed 18% of these trees in 1 year, including 5% that were killed or removed. The remaining trees were subjected to high levels of giraffe browse and low rainfall and grew by only