What plants do deer prefer?

In Udawalawe, Sambar and Spotted Deer mostly graze on soft grasses like Panicum maximum, but they also nibble on the leaves, shoots and even the fallen fruits of dry-zone shrubs. Their diet changes a lot, season by season, depending on what is tender and within reach.

During the rainy season, they concentrate on the fresh, nutrient-rich grasses that sprout in the open plains. Then in the dry season, when the grass withers, they shift more towards browsing the lower branches of tough bushes, and they also eat the fruits that fall after monkeys feed higher up in the canopy above.