To be able to provide the growing human population with food, the productivity of the animals as well as land use needs to be improved and intensified. Hence, understanding the behavior of animals is crucial both for animal welfare and productivity as well as the management of the cattle. There are many factors affecting the grazing behavior of cattle in tropical conditions, such as human-animal interactions, herd management, breed, season and temperature. The purpose of this study was to investigate the grazing behavior of two tropical cattle breeds, Ankole and Boran cattle. Kenyan Boran belongs to a zebu type of cattle and is preferred to many other breeds due to the higher productive and reproductive capacity and adaptability to tropical conditions.

Interaktioner mellan vilda herbivorer och nötboskap är väldigt komplexa. Bland nackdelarna väger överföring av sjukdomar tyngst. Uppskattningsvis har cirka 70 % av alla sjukdomar hos boskap (inklusive zoonoser) som uppkommit på senare tid sitt ursprung hos vilda djur. Sjukdomar kan spridas via direkta kontakter eller indirekta interaktioner (luft, kroppsvätskor, avföring, kött eller mjölk) mellan vilda djur och boskap. Några exempel på sådana sjukdomar är: East Coast Fever, Corridor disease, January disease, katarralfeber, trypanosomos samt mul- och klövsjuka.