Preferred and Poisonous Plant Species of Dromedary (Camelus dromedarius) in a Semi-Arid Zone, Nigeria
Ghude, M. I. *
Livestock Section, Agric Department Nassarawa LGA, Kano State, Nigeria.
Hamdein Mutwakel Mohammed, H. B.
Department of Animal Production, Faculty of Agriculture, Dalanj University, Sudan.
Maigandi, S. A.
Department of Animal Science, Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, Nigeria.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
The study was designed to investigate the preferred and poisonous plants species in a fragile ecosystem of Nigeria. One hundred and twenty (120) questionnaires were used to obtained information from camel owners. Samples of preferred and poisonous plant species were also collected for analysis. The study revealed four ranking plant species Leptadenia hastata (Yadiya), Faidherbia albida (Gawo), Hygrophila auriculata (Kayar Rakumi) and Balanites egyptiaca (Aduwa) as preferred and two ranking; Ipomoea asarifolia (Duman rafi) and Euphorbia lateriflora (Fid-da-sartse) as poisonous plant species. Proximate composition revealed H. auriculata to contained significantly the highest (P>0.05) value of crude protein (24.96%) compared to others. Likewise there were significant (P>0.05) variations in Anti Nutritional Factors (ANFs) and mineral components amongst plant species. Conclusively, the present study was able to provide some useful data on camel reproduction, water consumption and feeding stuff.
Keywords: Camelus dromedaries, livestock production, toxicity, hind limb paralysis