Source: CCTV news client
The tiger and leopard in our human cognition are symbols of strength and speed. But how do tigers and leopards see themselves?
This is a philosophical topic in animal behavior: Are animals self-aware? In this regard, scientists often test it through a well-known animal mirror experiment.
Experts from the Siberian Tiger and Leopard Biodiversity National Field Scientific Observation and Research Station collected rare images of wild Siberian tigers and leopards looking in the mirror through the integrated monitoring system of "heaven and earth and space" in the Siberian Tiger and Leopard National Park. Let's take a look at how the beasts of prey understand the question of "who am I?"
The scientific research team won the precious image of "Wild Siberian Tiger Looking in the Mirror"
In the Northeast Tiger and Leopard National Park, the scientific research team of the National Field Science Observation and Research Station has laid down a meticulous network of celestial eyes to monitor the ecological security of this area located in the northeast border of China and the most biodiversity-rich area in real time, and some research and experimental work on wild animals such as tigers and leopards has also been carried out here.
In areas where tigers and leopards are more active, researchers placed three mirrors made of white steel, and deployed infrared cameras with real-time transmission next to the mirrors to record the reaction of wild animals when they encountered mirrors.
Soon, infrared cameras recorded the first time an adult Siberian tiger passed by the "unfamiliar" mirror installation.
In the faint fill light of the mirror, this majestic and mighty Siberian tiger suddenly saw its own figure reflected in the face, and immediately made a stressful dodge action of jumping and retreating quickly, and then slowly left while observing.
Subsequently, a number of adult Siberian tigers passed by here, and when they first saw themselves in the mirror, they invariably showed an urgent dodge and then defensively left, or tried to attack, and one of them was grumpy, and even waved his front paws directly at himself in the mirror, and the steel mirror was instantly slapped to the ground.
However, in the ensuing time, the Siberian tiger gradually adapted to the presence of mirrors. When they pass cyclically again, they go from avoidance to careful temptation, and finally into blindness to the mirror.
A juvenile Siberian tiger shows a completely different attitude towards the mirror. Although this small tiger looks strong, but still in its infancy, it saw itself in the mirror, it was not nervous, but it was very appreciative of the figure in the mirror, and after a long time of scrutiny, it was reluctant to leave, and then simply lay down next to the mirror, waiting for its favorite "little partner".
Feng Limin, deputy director of the Northeast Tiger and Leopard Monitoring and Research Center of the State Forestry and Grassland Administration, and associate professor of Beijing Normal University: We can see that when an adult Siberian tiger first encounters a mirror, it is very cautious in the beginning, and it feels that (the self in the mirror) may be a potential threat, and it will be very frightened to avoid. And we find that the little tiger seems to be not afraid of anything, it will quietly admire in front of the mirror, and will curiously look at its own figure in the mirror.
The northeast leopard looks in the mirror and refuses to leave in the mirror
In the vast protected area of the Siberian Tiger and Leopard National Park, in addition to the Siberian tiger we are familiar with, there is also a critically endangered and mysterious and beautiful beast, that is, the Siberian leopard.
Siberian tigers and Siberian leopards live next to each other in the same forest, and there are often cases of overlapping trajectories.
The mirror that has just been looked at by the Siberian tiger and met by the Siberian leopard, two rare and fierce "big cats", what is the difference in their reactions to the question of "meeting themselves" from the mirror and "who am I"?
The northeast leopard with slender limbs and gorgeous fur saw his own figure in the mirror for the first time, and was instantly "beautiful", sniffing at the mirror and extending his claws to touch the intimate action, but in the end he was disappointed because he could not hope for it.
Despite this, the Northeast Leopard was still obsessed with the figure in the mirror, and finally lay down, staring at himself in the mirror and refusing to leave for a long time.
Feng Limin, deputy director of the Northeast Tiger and Leopard Monitoring and Research Center of the State Forestry and Grassland Administration, and Feng Limin, associate professor of Beijing Normal University: We found that there was a Northeast leopard, and at the beginning (it) was also very curious about this mirror, and it was also very vigilant, but after a long time, it gradually adapted, it will appear more and more frequently in front of the mirror, I don't know if I am fascinated by my own mighty appearance, and now we see it lying down in front of the mirror, and it may take several minutes to lie down.
Judging from the above reactions of the Siberian tiger and the Siberian leopard looking in the mirror, their transformation process of treating the images that appear in the mirror from strange to adapting, and even staying for a long time to observe, indicates that the king of the jungle is likely to eventually know that the image in the mirror is himself.
For the question of "who am I?", the King of the Jungle seems to understand. At the same time, the sheer strength and speed, the prudence and courage unique to big cats, allows them to constantly explore and adapt in a variety of environments, always occupying the role of top predators.
Feng Limin, deputy director of the Northeast Tiger and Leopard Monitoring and Research Center of the State Forestry and Grassland Administration, and Feng Limin, associate professor of Beijing Normal University: We saw that the tiger and leopard saw the mirror for the first time, and showed a very cautious and avoidant attitude in front of the mirror, but it gradually adapted to this situation, and eventually found that it had no impact on it, no impact on its safety, and it gradually adapted to this situation.
Real-time monitoring system for the integration of space, earth and space in the field of nature conservation
This advanced monitoring system in siberian tiger and leopard national park has now collected millions of video footage of wild animals moving in real time deep in the jungle.
Its existence is like setting up countless pairs of "eyes" in a national park, realizing that every move deep in the forest can be "seen and controlled".
In the hinterland of the Northeast Tiger and Leopard National Park, the reporter walked into the research base of the Northeast Tiger and Leopard Monitoring and Research Center of the State Forestry and Grassland Administration. On the big screen of the base ecological big data center, live pictures of various points transmitted by infrared cameras deployed in the mountains and forests are being played.
Feng Limin, deputy director of the Northeast Tiger and Leopard Monitoring and Research Center of the State Forestry and Grassland Administration, and Feng Limin, associate professor of Beijing Normal University: The equipment is real-time record transmission, for example, in the wild, when the Siberian tiger appears in front of the camera, it can be photographed immediately, and then very quickly, through the 700 megabit network can be transmitted to the cloud platform, on the cloud platform through artificial intelligence big data analysis, the video can be taken to identify which species, which category, and then quickly display in the background management system.
The latest experience brought by high technology is that the staff has the opportunity to meet the mysterious king of the forest, the Siberian tiger, at any time.
With the advancement of the pilot work of the Northeast Tiger and Leopard National Park system, the population of tigers and leopards has grown steadily, the distribution area has been expanding, and the activities of tigers and leopards in the area of human activities have become more and more frequent, and the problem of "how to make people and wild animals coexist in harmony" is placed in front of scientific researchers and managers.
This network plays an important role in ensuring the safety of the "human tiger", monitoring the trajectory of the beast in real time and issuing timely warning to the surrounding masses.
People and wild animals coexist in harmony, and the escort of science and technology is an important prerequisite. In the real-time monitoring system that achieves full coverage of the scope of the Northeast Tiger and Leopard National Park, more than 30,000 infrared cameras transmitted in real time form a "tianluodi network" and are hiddenly deployed in every corner of the national park.
Feng Limin, deputy director of the Northeast Tiger and Leopard Monitoring and Research Center of the State Forestry and Grassland Administration, and Feng Limin, associate professor of Beijing Normal University: There are 95 base stations, which basically achieve full coverage of this (Northeast Tiger and Leopard National Park), and we have set up nearly 30,000 devices under the coverage signal.
The Siberian Tiger and Leopard National Park Space-Space Integrated Monitoring System is also the world's first large-scale real-time monitoring system for natural resources, which integrates a variety of modern technologies such as communications, artificial intelligence, cloud computing, big data analysis, etc., covering 14,600 square kilometers of The Siberian Tiger and Leopard National Park, realizing real-time perception monitoring and scientific management of natural resources at the ecosystem level of the national park.
Feng Limin, deputy director of the Northeast Tiger and Leopard Monitoring and Research Center of the State Forestry and Grassland Administration, and Feng Limin, associate professor of Beijing Normal University: The integration of modern communications and artificial intelligence makes it possible for us to observe the real-time activities and real-time behavior of wild animals in the forest at a distance, like the mirror experiments we carry out, including this set of monitoring systems to obtain a large number of real-time videos every day, which contains a very rich information on the activities of wild animals in the wild, which provides us with the real activities of wild animals in the wild. Provides solid first-hand scientific data.