White rhino and hippopotamus crop grass swards unselectively at tuft scale with their broad mouths, and their large body size allows them to tolerate a low-quality diet; these features make them important initiators of grazing lawns, particularly in more productive systems with high C:N tall-grass swards; concentrations of medium-sized short-grass specialists (e.g. wildebeest) may contribute to lawn establishment in lower rainfall systems.