Kudu are predomimently browsers, but include approximately 10 percent grass in their diet, Fresh green grass is preferred. A wide range of leaves, herbs, vines, flowers, fruit and succulents are eaten. Kudu will browse on a variety of poisonous plants that are avoided by other browsers. Acacia tortillis, Combretum hereroense, Combretum apiculatum and Dichrostachys cinerea are considered as major browse species.

14 years

Kudo are sensitive to cold and severe mortalities can occur during excesseve cold spells, especially late in the winter and early in the spring when the difference between the maximum and minimum temperature is less than 15°C. The leaves of most woody plants produce defensive chemicals, such as tannins, when the tree of shrub is browsed. These tannins bind to proteins and reduce the digestibility of browse, thus limiting the amount of protein available. Studies have shown that the protein intake of kudu remains well above the level required for maintenance throughout the year, whereas the estimated intake of metabolizable energy drops below the maintenence requirements in the late dry season. It therfore seems that when the low energy intake during times of food scarcity coincides with periods of extreme cold, it causes stress, pneumonia snd death in kudu.