Forage species preferred by dromedaries and their chemical composition in arid rangelands of Algeria

摘要

AstudywasconductedintheElAliaregion,Ouargla(South-EastofAlgeria),todeterminethedietarypreferenceofcamels(Camelusdromedaries)andthequalityofforagepreferredinthedryandwetseasons.Eightcamelswererandomlyselectedfromoneoffourageandsexcategories,adultmales(AM),adultfemales(AF),youngmales(YM)andyoungfemales(YF),tomeasuretimespentfeedingondifferentplants.TheresultsindicatedthatTraganumnudatumandAnabasisarticulatawerethemostpreferredplantsfor(AM),(AF)and(YM)and(YF)respectivelyinthewetseason.InthedryseasonLimoniastrumguyonianumwasthemostpreferredplantforallcamelcategories.Chemicalcompositionshowedthattheaveragedrymatter(DM)contentoftheplantswas94%,whilethecrudeprotein(CP)rangedbetween9-14%inDM.Thecrudefiber(CF)wasintherangeof8to11%inDM.Theorganicmatter(OM)rangedfrom72.3to84.8%inDM.Ashcontentwasintherangeof15to27%inDM.Theresultsshowthatthepreferredplantsstudiedhaveacceptedlevelsofnutrients.