Diet and distribution of elephant in the Maputo Elephant Reserve, Mozambique Willem F. De Boer 1,2 , Cornelio P. Ntumi 2 , Augusto U. Correia 3 and Jorge M. Mafuca 4 1 Bureau Buitenland, RUG, Postbus 72, 9700 AB Groningen, the Netherlands, 2 Departamento de CieÃncias Biolo Âgicas, Universidade Eduardo Mondlane, C.P. 257, Maputo, Mozambique, 3 Direcc Ëa Äo Nacional de Florestas e Fauna Bravia, C.P. 1406, Maputo, Mozambique, 4 SADC/GEF, PO Box 311, Salima, Malawi Abstract The distribution and diet of the elephants of the Maputo Elephant Reserve were studied using dung counts, satellite tracking and faecal analysis. The results were compared with earlier data from before the civil war in Mozambique. The elephant population decreased dur- ing the civil war, but180 animals still remain. Earlier studies described the elephants as preferring the grass plains. Currently, the elephants prefer the dense forest patches over the high quality forage found in the grass plains. Water salinity a¡ected distribution; elephant dung piles were found closer to fresh water in the dry season. A total of 95 di¡erent plant species were identi- ¢ed in the faeces. The percentage of grass was relatively low compared with other studies, increasing at the beginning of the rainy season. At the end of the dry sea- son, elephants concentrated on the few available browse species with young leaves, but generally pre- ferred grass species to browse species. Diet composition was mainly a¡ected by season and less by habitat. The elephants have changed their habitat preference in reaction to poaching, and probably increased the con- tribution of browse species in the diet. The presence of forest patches has been vital for the survival of the ele- phants. Key words: browse, dung, food, grass, habitat, movements Re¨ sume¨ On a e¨ tudie¨ la distribution et le re¨ gime alimentaire des e¨le¨ phants dela Re¨ serve a¨ e¨le¨ phants de Maputo en utili- sant le comptages des crottes, le tracking par satellite et l'analyse des excre¨ ments. On a compare¨ les re¨ sultats avec des donne¨ es recueillies avant la guerre civile au Mozambique. La population d'e¨ le¨ phants a baisse¨ pen- dant la guerre civile mais il reste 180 animaux. Des e¨ tudes ante¨ rieures montraient queles e¨ le¨ phants pre¨ fe¨ r- aient les plaines herbeuses. Actuellement, ils pre¨ fe© rent les |ªlots de foreª t dense au fourrage de haute qualite¨ qui se trouve dans les plaines herbeuses. La salinite¨ de l'eau modi¢e la distribution; on trouvait les crottes d'e¨ le¨ - phants plus pre©s de l'eau douce en saison se©che. On a identi¢e¨ un total de 95 espe© ces ve¨ge¨ tales di¡e¨ rentes dans les excre¨ ments. Le pourcentage d'herbes e¨ tait rela- tivement bas par rapport aux e¨ tudes ante¨ rieures, il aug- mentait au de¨but de la saison des pluies. A la ¢n de la saison se© che, les e¨ le¨ phants se concentraient sur les quelques espe© ces de buissons comestibles ayant des jeunes feuilles, mais ils pre¨ fe¨ raient ge¨ ne¨ ralement les espe© ces herbeuses aux buissons. La composition du re¨ gime e¨ tait surtout a¡ecte¨ e par la saison et moins par l'habitat. Les e¨ le¨ phants ontchange¨ leurs pre¨ fe¨ rences en matie© re d'habitat en re¨ action au braconnage et ont sans doute ainsi augmente¨ la contribution des espe© ces buis- sonnantes dans le re¨ gime alimentaire. La pre¨ sence des |ª lots forestiers a e¨ te¨ vitale pour la survie des e¨ le¨ phants. Introduction The elephants ( Loxodonta africana (Blumenbach)) of the Maputo Elephant Reserve (MER) in Mozambique 188 # 2000 East AfricanWild Life Society, Afr. J. Ecol., 38, 188^201 Correspondence: W. F. de Boer, O¤ce of International Cooperation, University of Groningen, Postbus 72, 9700 AB Groningen, the Netherlands.Tel: 3150 3635420; fax: 3150 363 7100.