The vast and mysterious Coco Xili no man's land, high altitude, thin oxygen, changeable climate, often heavy rain, hail, wind and snow and other weather. Despite the harsh natural environment, there are still many wild animals living here, a large body of wild beasts, always like to flock to forage for food, activities, that is, the plateau giant beast - wild yak.
Wild yak is an endemic species of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the ancestor of domestic yak, can tolerate hunger, thirst, cold, hypoxia, active at an altitude of 3000-6000 meters in alpine meadows, mountain basins, alpine deserts and other places.
Do you want to know how wild yaks survive in alpine and barren places?
<h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" >01 weighs 1 ton, barks like a pig, and walks freely on the steep slopes of the plateau</h1>
Wild yaks are known as highland behemoths, not for no reason, with shoulder heights of 160-180 cm, a bent head length of about 50 cm, and a weight of about 1 ton, which is twice as large as domestic yaks. This weight, wherever it goes, has already made many animals daunted.
Such a behemoth, the sound is like a pig's bark. It is precisely because of living in an environment with poor oxygen that the vocal cords change, so the wild yak is called "pig sound cow" by local herders.
Wild yaks live in alpine areas all year round and must have a full set of "equipment":
Covered with thick hairs, the hairs on the chest and abdomen are particularly long, almost hanging down to the ground, which can not only shield the wind and rain, but also play a defensive role when wild yaks lie in the snow.
It is bulky and has strong limbs, but it can walk freely on steep slopes, because the hooves of wild yaks are large and round, the hooves are small and pointed, and there are soft horns on the soles of their feet.
In the desert area, the plants are sparse and low-growing, and the wild yak has thin lips, small nose mirrors, and meat teeth on the tongue, which can feed on low plants. The digestive system of wild yaks is also good, and they can easily digest and eat plants with a hard texture.
The wild yak has a well-developed chest, short trachea, large lung capacity, and an increase in respiratory rate, which correspondingly increases the amount of oxygen in the body. Therefore, the huge wild yak can fully adapt to the plateau area with high altitude and low oxygen content, and can run freely and breathe freely.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" >02 foraging while wandering in the summer and foraging with the snow in the winter</h1>
Wild yaks prefer to live in groups and always roam in groups to feed, usually in groups of 20-30, and in winter they will gather in larger groups, sometimes as many as 200-300.
The wilderness of Coco Siri is desolate and barren, and the wild yaks are always wandering while foraging, spending a lot of time every day on foraging to eat. However, they are always in a hurry to nibble on food such as song grass, needle thatch, and moss.
The way wild yaks feed on plants varies depending on the season. In summer, nibble with your teeth. Winter foraging is the hardest, the plants are yellower and rarer, and the wild yaks use their fleshy tongues to lick the plants that grow close to the ground.
After heavy snowfall, there is a lot of snow everywhere, and the wild yak will use its body to push the snow away and walk out of a road, leading their partners in the snow, looking for plants covered by snow. After eating enough food, the wild yak ran to the cliff to rest and regurgitate.
Wild yaks have a strong team spirit, cows will protect calves, bulls will protect cows, in short, once in danger, strong bulls will spontaneously protect weak.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" >03 Brown bear did not dare to provoke it, and the wolves saw it and ran away</h1>
When the wild yaks did not lose their temper, they were clumsy and thick, but they were fierce, and no one was not afraid of them. Whenever the wild yak is about to attack, it will raise its tail and then rush through at a speed of 40 kilometers per hour, and the combat power is bursting!
A herd of wild yaks was grazing on plants in a mountain basin when a Tibetan brown bear suddenly appeared on a mountain not far away. The Tibetan brown bear is a stupid big man, likes to go alone, not even the wolf, but it is afraid of wild yaks!
The crescent moon-like horn of the wild yak is not a joke, so the Tibetan brown bear does not dare to provoke the wild yak and quickly turns around and leaves.
And the wolves who are invincible in all directions, seeing the fat and strong wild yaks, even if they are hungry, they do not dare to hunt easily. When searching for prey, a group of wolves bumped into a group of wild yaks, and after spying in the dark for a long time, they did not dare to come forward and ran away.
But wolves are still the main natural enemies of wild yaks, and wolves do not dare to prey on adult wild yaks, but if they see a single calf, they will certainly not hesitate to come forward and prey on it.
In the winter when food is scarce, wolves who are good at team combat will do their best to banish the old, sick and disabled wild yaks to the ice, and it will not take much effort to make the wild yaks slip and fall and prey on them.
So, do wild yaks attack people? The wild yaks in groups have a stable temperament and will not attack people for no reason, but if they are grumpy "single cows", when they see people or cars, they will run to chase after them with great momentum, and even overturn the car.
< h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" >04 The competition for a mate is fierce, and the failed bull goes down the hill to find a domestic cow</h1>
From September to November, autumn is the courtship season for wild yaks, and the bulls become particularly fierce, often making courtship calls to attract the attention of the cows. Every bull wants to be strong, have more cows, and inherit their genes.
Wild yaks, which are usually united and friendly, will also have fierce battles, hitting each other with the hard horns on their heads and trying to knock each other down.
The victorious bull, who gained the right to mate, led a herd of cows away. And the losing side, poor and sloppy, got nothing, but was seriously injured. Even if you are not willing to follow and quietly follow behind, you will not find the opportunity to get close to the cow.
The failed bull, wandering alone in the mountains, has a particularly short temper. Some losers will "find another way out" and run down the mountain, rush into the domestic yak herd, and mate with the domestic cow. And that's not all, it even brings domestic cows up the mountain.
Even if it fails, it has a wild yak with a "daughter-in-law" and lets the domestic cow give it a baby.
The gestation period of the cow is 8-9 months until the birth of the litter in June-July of the following year, one litter per litter. The calves in a herd will be protected by everyone, and if there is a wolf pack eyeing the calf, all the adult wild calves will surround the calf in the middle and stand outside to defend against the enemy.
< h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > concluding remarks</h1>
Wild yaks are behemoths, strong fighting power, if you encounter wild yaks in the wild, you must stay away, do not make provocative, provoke wild yak behavior.
Xuelinggu Nature Lab/Production
References: National Zoological Museum, China Wildlife Conservation Association, Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China Science Daily