Intake, ingesta retention, particle size distribution and digestibility in the hippopotamidae

Although several aspects of the digestive physiology of the hippopotamidae—non-ruminating foregut fermenters—have been described, ingesta kinetics and passage characteristics of these species are not well understood. The most outstanding feature of the hippo digestive physiology reported so far is the very long mean ingesta retention times (MRTs) measured by Foose [Foose, T., 1982. Trophic strategies of ruminant versus nonruminant ungulates. PhD dissertation, University of Chicago, Chicago.]. Since those data had been investigated with animals without water access, we intended to measure MRT in hippos which were allowed to enter water pools during the night. MRT parameters as well as dry matter (DM) digestibility were determined in four common ( Hippopotamus amphibius) and four pygmy hippos ( Hexaprotodon liberiensis) on two different diets each using cobalt ethylendiamintetraacetate (Co-EDTA) as a fluid, chromium (Cr)-mordanted fibre (