Quantitative assessment of feeding in a free-ranging group of Przewalski horses, Equus przewalskii, in a steppe habitat (the Askania Nova Biosphere Reserve)

Abstract

The daily food intake and digestibility by Przewalskii horses were estimated under conditions of free ranging in the steppe Askania Nova Reserve. The digestibility was determined from the proportions of inert plant components (silica and lignin) in forage and feces; the daily food intake, from the amount of feces and the digestibility of forage. A free-ranging Przewalskii horse consumed 6.7–10.9 kg of phytomass (dry weight) per day, with its digestibility varying from 32 to 54%, depending on quality. The relatively poor digestibility of low-nutrient forage was counterbalanced by an increase in its consumption. Feeding tests were also conducted with horses kept in open-air pens. Under such conditions, a horse consumed 8.2–14.2 kg of hay and 8.5–11.4 kg of green steppe grass (dry weight) per day, with the digestibility of the latter forage being 49–52%. The indices of digestibility of rangeland forage in the Przewalskii horse proved to be similar to those in other large equines.