Seasonal shifts in diet diversity and habitat selection of African buffalo (Syncerus caffer) in the Pénéssoulou Classified Forest in north-west Benin

Abstract

Understanding seasonal shifts in mammal diet and how this determines their foraging behaviour is critical for wildlife management. We assessed the seasonal variations in diet diversity and habitat selection of the African buffalo (Syncerus caffer) using an interdisciplinary approach combining surveys, line-transect distance sampling and micrographic analysis. We hypothesized that (i) Buffalo select their habitat according to the seasons, preferring habitats that offer greater availability of food resources; (ii) In the dry season, the buffalo adopt a more diversified diet due to the scarcity of resources, while in the rainy season, they are more selective and mainly feed on abundant grass species. Findings reveal that Buffalo had more attraction for gallery forests (0.89 ± 0.30, p = 0.003), tree savannahs (0.88 ± 0.31, p = 0.006), and wood savannahs (1.59 ± 0.38, p < 0.001) during the dry season, while they showed less preference for grasslands (-0.65 ± 0.29, p = 0.027) which support the first hypothesis. They grazed on a greater diversity of plant species in the dry season (22 species) compared to the rainy season (16 species) supporting the second hypothesis. Conservation strategies must prioritize protecting and restoring savannah landscapes and gallery forests, which provide critical habitat during the dry season, the most resource-constrained period. Additionally, managing grazing pressure and preventing habitat degradation in the dry season when buffalo depend on a wider array of plant families and a more varied diet will be essential for sustaining healthy buffalo populations.