Methods for Studying Microbial Digestion in Ruminants Post Mortem with Special Reference to Wild Species

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Abstract
In view of the recent interest in studying the nutrition of wild ruminants in their natural habitats, methods are discussed which by application to killed animals in the field can provide information on food selection and digestive processes. The main criteria considered useful for such investigations include the weight of digesta in the ruminoreticulum, botanical and chemical analyses of main digesta constituents, the molar proportions of rumen volatile fatty acids, fermentation rates of added and/or ingested substrates and total and differential counts of rumen microorganisms.