Ecology Of The Giant Molerat Tachyoryctes Macrocephalus (rppell 1842) With Emphasis On The Feeding Ecology From The Sanetti Plateau Of Bale Mountains National Park (bmnp) Ethiopia

Studies on the feeding ecology, habitat use, activity pattern, andrnstructure of the burrow system and population density of the giant moleratsrnwere carried out on Sanetti Plateau, BMNP from March, 2006 to January, 2007rncovering both wet and dry seasons. The consumed plant materials and hay pilerncomponents from ten samples indicated that Alchemilla abyssinica and Festucarnspecies were the major food items in terms of percentage frequency and dietaryrnoccurrence. Stomach contents from four animals and ten faecal samplesrnshowed higher percentage of dicots than monocots (Χ2 = 23.8, df = 1, P< 0.01).rnIn addition, different species of dicots were also consumed. Although there wasrna preference of occurrence, all plant materials surrounding the feeding holesrnwere gathered. A large proportion (75. 6%) of time was spent under the groundrncompared to above ground activities. Out of the above ground activities, feedingrnconsumed larger time compared to time spent for observation and digging.rnThere was no significant difference on size and length of the burrow systemrnbetween wet and dry seasons as well as between more and less populatedrnareas(Χ2 = .0.4, df= 1, P > 0.05). The mean estimated population density fromrnten plots was 6545/ km.2 Giant molerat is a solitary animal, which mutuallyrninteracts with the alpine chat.

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