Climate change is not the only cause of arid landscapes: a research team led by the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (Leibniz-IZW) has investigated the consequences of increased water abstraction for agriculture and livestock farming from the Great Ruaha River. This river, which used to flow continuously, now dries up for months at a time. The scientists showed that some herbivores were able to partially compensate for the temporary lack of water through their diet, whereas others have little or no ability to do so. In particular, African buffalo, plains zebra and waterbuck were sometimes severely restricted in their habitat use as a result.