Seasonal Distribution of Large Mammal Populations in the Unflooded Middle Zambezi Valley

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Abstract
Three study visits were made to an unflooded part of the Middle Zambezi Valley to investigate the distribution of populations of large mammals. Distributions of nearly all species were found to vary seasonally, such that greatest use of the flood plain was made at the height of the dry season. Species differed in their occurrence in vegetation types of the studied area, and their use of the vegetation types varied seasonally. The differences between the species in their distributions afforded them some degree of ecological separation. Breeding and non-breeding sections of populations often differed in their distributions and preferences for vegetation types. In general, non-breeding sections were more evenly dispersed than breeding sections, showing less emphatic preferences for vegetation types. It was concluded that the inundation of the flood plain in the Lake Kariba area of the valley must have deprived many herbivores of formerly important dry season habitats.

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