Heilongjiang Huzhong National Nature Reserve is located in the territory of Huzhong District of Daxing'anling, where the ecological environment is relatively well preserved, and it is one of the most typical and complete cold temperate coniferous forest ecosystems in mainland China.
Heilongjiang Huzhong National Nature Reserve has undulating mountains and rivers, and the unique environment is very conducive to the growth and reproduction of wild animals.
The reserve is rich in wildlife resources, as of 2021, there are as many as 194 species of wild birds and 36 species of mammals, including many national key protected animals such as proto-musk, black-billed grouse, golden eagle, red deer, lynx and so on.
According to the news of Heilongjiang Huzhong National Nature Reserve, when the staff used infrared thermal imaging drones to conduct resource surveys, they monitored 3 "strange beasts" at close range.
From the appearance point of view, these three animals are huge, resembling deer and camels, and look very strange, similar to the legendary "four unlikes".
In fact, these three behemoth-like animals, scientifically called "moose", are also called "Gandahan" or "Kandahan" in the local Manchu language, and are the largest deer in the world, and can even weigh thousands of pounds when they reach adulthood.
He is tall like a camel, and the male has huge horns
The biggest impression of the moose is that it is large and widely distributed, and the moose in different regions have different sizes.
Most of the moose living in mainland China are between 400 and 600 kg as adults, while most of the moose in North America can weigh up to 700 kg, and a very small number of individuals can even reach 1000 kg.
Moose are tall like camels, especially the shoulders are particularly high, like the humps of camels, and the limbs are also like camels, hence the name "moose".
According to records, the early Siberians used moose as "war horses" for riding on the battlefield, and in sweden in the seventeenth century, there were also soldiers riding moose.
The coat base color of moose is mainly reddish brown, which is darker in summer than in winter. Their heads are large, their faces are particularly long, their noses are large and droopy, their upper lips are swollen and elongated, and their eyes appear relatively small.
The male has the largest horns in the deer on its head, and unlike the "branch-shaped" horns of other deer, the horns on the moose's head are flattened like a shovel, the horns are rough, and the overall appearance is very similar to a cactus.
Both male and female, moose have a "meat column" under the throat, and the "meat column" also has sagging hairs on top, called "jaw sac", compared to females, males are particularly developed, this feature is also unique to moose.
Large but quite flexible, strong survival skills
Intuitively, the moose is tall, with a short and thick torso, slender limbs, and the whole gives a feeling of clumsiness, but in fact the moose is quite flexible.
It reacts quickly and has a strong jumping ability, and can bounce to eat leaves in high places. In addition, its speed and endurance are also very strong, it can run at speeds of more than 50 kilometers per hour for several hours, even on the thick snow, they can move freely.
The native environment of moose is relatively cold, in order to adapt to the harsh environment, they have developed many superb survival skills, is the survival master of nature.
Moose are typical subarctic coniferous forest animals, generally inhabiting coniferous forests and mixed coniferous and broad-leaved forests, and their distribution on the mainland is limited to the northern part of the Daxing'an Mountains and the Little Xing'an Mountains.
Females and fawns generally live in groups, while adult males often act alone. They are herbivores, usually feeding on leaves, grasses, shoots, duckweeds, aquatic weeds, etc., and can eat more than 70 kinds of food.
Moose eat a lot of food, and an adult moose can eat 20 kilograms of plants a day. Like cattle, they need to regurgitate after eating, and like animals such as rock sheep, they lick stones, rock walls, etc. to obtain salt.
The ability to swim water is extremely strong, known as the "Golden Eye Beast of Water Removal"
If some of the elk in the early days of Dongting Lake came from the Shishou Elk Nature Reserve across the Yangtze River, which made people marvel at its "water nature", then the moose compared with the elk is even worse.
"Water Avoidance Golden Eye Beast" is the mount of the Bull Demon King in "Journey to the West", which can be driven to the sea and has a strong ability to swim water, and the moose has the title of "Water Avoidance Golden Eye Beast". They can swim more than 20 kilometers at a time without rest, and many people claim to have seen them cross the strait alone.
Just as the so-called "artist is bold", moose with their excellent swimming ability, the grass and leaves on the land are tired of eating, they dare to dive into the bottom of the water at a depth of five or six meters to eat aquatic grass.
Every year, it begins in mid-August and lasts until October, which is the moose's estrus period. In the world of moose, everything depends on strength, and females will only mate with powerful males, so in order to obtain mating rights, males in estrus are "rubbing their fists" and are ready to fight with the same kind.
The moose's most important attack weapon is its huge antlers, in order to make itself more effective, the male deer in the estrus period will continue to polish their antlers with the trunk of the tree to make it smoother.
Once two males compete for a female, they will hit each other with their antlers until one side loses. The loser leaves, and the winner wins the "heart" of the female deer and gets the opportunity to mate with it.
Moose are huge, in nature, very few predators can prey on them, from the annual report of accidental death of moose, "road killing" has become one of the main factors directly threatening their survival.
Especially in Europe and the United States, traffic accidents account for a large proportion of unnatural deaths of moose, so in some places where moose are often infested, moose infested warning signs can be seen everywhere.