A study of the diet and food preferences of the rock hyrax was conducted on rangeland in southern South West Africa in response to complaints by Karakul sheep farmers that the species was competing wilh livestock for grazing. The botanical composition of the dit was quantitatively determined by analysing stomach contents using leaf epidermis anatomy to identify Monocotyledons and gross morphology to identify Dicotyledons. Keywords: Acacia mellifera, Aliquot samples, Dicotyledon stems, Groot Karas Mountains, Herbage resource, Karakul sheep, Monocotyledons, Opportunistic feeder, Population sampling, Procavia capensis, Rotational grazing systems, Vegetation, Ziziphus mucronata.