HERBIVORE GUT TYPES explained

This will be the first in a series of six articles looking at the six broader classes of herbivores in context of nutrition and why the different animals select the food they eat, where both ruminants and non-ruminants will be discussed. These classes are the large grazers, intermediate to large browsers, the medium-sized grazers, the medium-sized browser, the small grazer and the small browser.

When designing food or understanding why animals eat the food they select, it is important to have a thorough understanding of what adaptations different herbivore animals have to collect, degrade and digest the food they select naturally. Furthermore, it is important to know the animal’s weight, sex, if the animal is pregnant, lactating, dry or a geriatric (living in a zoo).  In other words, a feed chosen by one specie will not necessarily be suitable