Diet determination of endangered species is an essential element in defining successful conservation strategies and optimising captive breeding programmes. In this study, we developed a new diet identification system, derived from standard faecal analysis, to determine the diet of an elusive and endangered herbivore, the pygmy hippopotamus (Choeropsis liberiensis). We collected faecal samples from 10 free-ranging individuals covering a combined home range area of about 50 km² in Taï National Park, Côte d’Ivoire. In subsequent laboratory analyses, we extracted a large number of leaf epidermis fragments from spatially separated faecal samples and compared them with a reference plant database. Using Multiple Correspondence Analysis (MCA) of epidermis fragments combined with direct visual inspection, we identified the most frequently consumed plant species, which revealed that pygmy hippopotami qualified as intermediate feeders. Their diet was based on at least seven species of monocotyledonae, dicotyledonae and fern groups, with a preference for a small number of other plant species. We evaluate the merit of our method and discuss our findings for developing effective conservation and captive breeding strategies in an endangered species with a wild population of less than 2500 adult individuals.

中文翻译：

---

一种确定科特迪瓦 Taï 国家公园侏儒河马饮食的新方法

确定濒危物种的饮食是确定成功的保护策略和优化圈养繁殖计划的基本要素。在这项研究中，我们开发了一种新的饮食识别系统，该系统源自标准的粪便分析，以确定一种难以捉摸和濒临灭绝的食草动物侏儒河马 ( Choeropsis liberiensis ) 的饮食。^{我们从 10 个自由放养的个体中收集了粪便样本，覆盖了约 50 km 2}的综合家庭范围在科特迪瓦的泰国家公园。在随后的实验室分析中，我们从空间分离的粪便样本中提取了大量叶表皮碎片，并将其与参考植物数据库进行比较。使用表皮碎片的多重对应分析 (MCA) 结合直接目视检查，我们确定了最常食用的植物物种，这表明侏儒河马有资格作为中间饲养者。他们的饮食以至少七种单子叶植物、双子叶植物和蕨类植物为基础，偏爱少数其他植物物种。我们评估了我们方法的优点，并讨论了我们的发现，以在野生种群少于 2500 名成年个体的濒危物种中制定有效的保护和圈养繁殖策略。