LAUSR

Abstract To assess feeding ecology and diet preferences of common warthogs (Phacochoerus africanus (Gmelin, 1788), the study was conducted in Gassi Controlled Area (GCHA) and in Haro Aba Diko Controlled Hunting Area (HADCHA) from May 2017 to June 2018. Diet composition of common warthog was determined using feeding quadrat and microhistological methods. From the leaf cuticle fragments observed of feces, 41 and 45 plant species were recognized as annual dietary components of common warthog in GCHA and HADCHA, respectively. Uncertainty of epidermal fragments and fine digestion, led certain forage species consumed by warthogs to be unidentified. In Gassi Controlled Hunting Area, Cynodon nlemfuensis (75.5%), Cynodon dactylon (69%), and Cyperus fischerianus (47%) had the higher relative frequency occurrence (RFO) in the feces of the animal during the wet season. In Haro Aba Diko Controlled Hunting Area, C. nlemfuensis (76.5%), C. dactylon (73.5%) and H. rufa (57.5%) were the top three forage species with higher RFO in the feces of the warthog during the dry season. During the wet season in GCHA, C. fischerianus, D. abyssinica, C. dactylon, C. nlemfuensis, Hyparrhenia rufa, A. abyssinicus, Sesbania sesban and Diplolophium africanum were identified as the staple forage species of common warthogs. In HADCHA, C. fischerianus, D. abyssinica, C. dactylon, C. nlemfuensis, H. rufa, H. hirta, S. poiretiana, A. abyssinicus, and S. sesban were identified as the staple forage species of warthogs during the wet season. In GCHAC. dactylon, C. nlemfuensis and A. abyssinicus were the top three species which showed high acceptability during the wet and dry seasons. Hyparrhenia hirta, was high acceptability during the wet season which was less acceptability during the dry season but the difference was not significant. In HADCHA C. fischerianus, D. abyssinica, C. dactylon, and C. nlemfuensis, showed high acceptability during both seasons. Therefore, common warthogs foraged on wide range of food resources of graminoids, forbs, and shrubs in the study areas. Certain staple forage species were frequently preferred, because of their compatibility with the physiology of warthogs.