Abstract
We compared food digestibility utilizing (1) the rates of food passing through the digestive system, (2) digestion rates of the nutrients including structural and non-structural carbohydrates, and (3) nutrition values and requirements between golden takin (Budorcas taxicolor bedford: Artiodactyla, Bovidae) and Shiba goat (Capra hircus: Artiodactyla, Bovidae) One male golden takin maintained at the Yokohama Zoo and one male and two female Shiba goats at the Experimental Animal Research Institute, the College of Bioresource Sciences, Nihon University were used in the present study. Chromic oxide (Cr_2O3) was used as a marker to determine the rate of food movement in the digestive system. All the feces were collected for the analysis of food digestibility. The rate of food passing through the digestive system was similar in the golden takin and Shiba goat, with the excretion peak of chrome oxide occurring between 24 and 48 hours after food intake. The digestion rates of all the foods were higher in the golden takin than in the Shiba goat. The maintenance energy requirement for golden takin was 1 71 times the basic metabolic energy, which is lower than that of the Shiba goat which was 2 68 times the basic metabolic energy
