Diet composition and food preference of eland after reintroduction to strandveld

• An eland (Tragelaphus oryx) reintroduced into Cape Flats Dune Strandveld was monitored over three years. • Contrary to expectations, eland exhibited distinct dietary preferences rather than generalist feeding. • Paired choice tests revealed a food plant preference hierarchy • Eland browsing behaviour may drive long-term shifts in plant community composition. • Findings inform the use of mega-herbivores for conservation management in fragmented Cape Flats Dune Strandveld. Although large mammalian herbivores are being introduced into Fynbos Biome ecosystems, little is known about the natural distributions of those animals, their historic abundance and their impacts on local vegetation. In this study, we investigated the dietary behaviour of eland in the strandveld vegetation of the Fynbos Biome. We tested eland dietary preferences against the null hypothesis that they would not show strong preferences towards any particular food plants. Following the introduction of eland into Cape Flats Dune Strandveld, their dietary intake was documented over a period of three years. The frequency at which different plants were consumed was compared with the relative abundance of different species in the field to determine which plants were preferred or non-preferred. In addition, paired-choice tests were undertaken on several common species to determine whether the eland had a food preference hierarchy. Eland appeared to have strong dietary preferences, including preferences for Stenotaphrum secundatum (Poaceae), some fast-growing shrubs (e.g. Osteospermum moniliferum, Asteraceae) and two alien Acacia species. In contrast, many species were consumed much less frequently than expected by chance, such as Thamnochortus spicigerus (Restionaceae). Because eland show strong food preferences, their addition to these ecosystems is likely to alter plant community composition in the long term. This detailed investigation into eland diets in Cape Flats Dune Strandveld provides the first data on their dietary preferences, potentially generating some initial hypotheses of how long-term eland introductions may shift vegetation communities and composition. This research may have implications for the management of fragmented and degraded ecosystems amid environmental change and may even have implications for combating invasive Acacias .