Study on Feeding preference and Impact of African Elephants (Loxodonta africana, Blumenbach, 1797; Elephantidae) on Woody species in Babile Elephant Sanctuary, Eastern Ethiopia Authors Taye Lemma Geleta Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia Girma Mengesha Hawassa University, Addis Zoo Park, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia DOI: https://doi.org/10.47504/IJAGRI.2022.V3.1.1 Keywords: Feeding Preference, Feeding Impact, Woody Species, African Elephants, Preference Indices, Important Value Indices Abstract The focus of this paper is to study the feeding preference and impact of woody species on African elephants in Babile Elephant Sanctuary (BES), Eastern Ethiopia. Data were collected through purposive random and systematic sampling techniques. Seven sites from three different habitats in the sanctuary were selected by considering the availability of dung and consumed plant parts. The result showed, among 38 species browsed by elephants, 24(63.15%) were the most preferred elephant diet. Besides, from dissecting 75 dung boli of 24 plant species (yielding 2841seeds); 2009 (70%) of seeds were fed by elephants during the wet season. And, the seeds were analysed using the focal watch and indirect methods. Woody species, about 23(76.7%) in the riverine, 36 (68%) in woodland, and 19(54.3%) in bushland habitats were mainly impacted on parts of primary/secondary branches and main stem. Among these, a small size class of trees was more easily damaged by elephants. Based on research results, the following inference is drawn: identifying and documenting the dietary composition, feeding preference, and impact of elephants on woody species in BES is important to build gaps in knowledge for conservationists to design plans for restoring the species and sustaining elephants existence in the sanctuary. References Ahimsa Campos-Arceiz ,Jamie Wadey; Hawthorne L. Beyer; Salman Saaban; Nasharuddin Othman; Peter Leimgruber (2018). Why did the elephant cross the road? 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International Journal of Agriculture, Biology & Environment (e-ISSN 2582-6107) DOI: 10.47504/IJAGRI, 3(1), 1–20. https://doi.org/10.47504/IJAGRI.2022.V3.1.1 More Citation Formats ACM ACS APA ABNT Chicago Harvard IEEE MLA Turabian Vancouver Download Citation Endnote/Zotero/Mendeley (RIS) BibTeX Issue Vol. 3 No. 1: Jan-Mar-2022 Section Articles License Copyright (c) 2022 Taye Lemma Geleta, Girma Mengesha This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.