The nutritive values of some major food plants of lechwe, puku and waterbuck along the Chobe River, Botswana

The feeding preferences of lechwe, puku and waterbuck and the nutritive values of the major food plants show a correlation. Within their habitat the species show preference for the plants with the highest crude protein value. The preferred habitats of the species, although overlapping to a certain extent, prevented all three species from using the food plants with the highest protein values at all times. Puku and waterbuck, for example, utilized plants which were clearly inferior to the plant growth available to lechwe in August.