. Boma-adapted rhinoceros were animals that were subjected to hand-raising and were kept in bomas (enclosures) over night. The feeding behaviour was different between the three rhinoceros groups. All rhinoceros groups utilised and selected for a few browse species in common, at different preference levels in the same habitat types according to season. Wild rhinoceroses browsed most in Colophospermum-Terminalia-Combretum woodland in the wet season and in thicket in the dry season. Hand-raised rhinoceroses browsed most in Colophospermum-Terminalia-Combretum woodland and boma-adated rhinos in thickets in both the wet and the early dry seasons. Hand-raised and bomaadapted rhinos changed their habitats less for browse selection than wild rhinos. This can be ascribed to a relative restriction of home range in the hand-raised group and a herding effect for the boma-adapted animals. These situations might have accounted for differences in seasonal browse selection by the rhinoceros groups.
Hand-raised rhinos would preferentially settle at sites close to areas where human activity was significant. Hand-raised rhinos that attached themselves to sites of human activity tended to move less widely and to have smaller seasonal ranges than those that moved away from human settlements. These rhinos had no fear of humans and some animals would move along established roads into hostile areas outside the park. These factors made hand-raised rhinos more vulnerable to poaching than their wild counterparts. Management of hand-raised rhinos with regards to ranging behaviour is discussed in the text.
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