Fibre digestion in the hyrax

Transit time and digestibility of two diets differing in fibre content were studied using captive hyrax (Procavia capensis). Significant negative correlations were found between transit time and NDF content of the diets. During these studies the hindgut played a major role in retaining fibrous foods and constituted 11,2% of the body mass while the stomach made up only 4,2% of the body mass on the high fibre diet (49,5% NDF). Hyrax appears to be one of the most efficient fibre digesters among the hindgut fermenters.