When the lions attack the oxen, the oxen are enclosed within a kraal made of acacia ("thorn tree") branches. Some small villages in areas where lions and hyenas live are similarly enclosed. The more established villages start out this way, with the acacia branches being gradually replaced by a ring of dagger bushes, which are similar to agave in appearance but tougher and with thorny serrated leaves. In many villages the rondavels (thatch-roofed, mud and wattle homes) include a small fenced area inside to keep the goats out of the reach of predators. Acacia thorns are the chief food of giraffes.