Do you know how small the smallest deer in the world is? They are not as big as a rabbit. The name of this fawn is the little mole deer, and they can be found in Xishuangbanna.
They are also called mouse deer because they seem too small, just a little bigger than larger mice, in other words, sometimes they look a bit like rats.
This mouse deer usually has a pointed head, large black shiny eyes, and its entire body looks round. The ears look like mice, rounded and thin. Therefore, it looks very much like a larger mouse.
This species of deer has the characteristics of the order Even-hoofed and belongs to the mole family. There are sixteen small animals in the mole family, and the small mole deer belongs to one of them. And it is also named to distinguish the remaining fifteen species.
From the appearance of the little moose, you can see that if they did not have the long, slender four legs, the rest of the characteristics would look no different from that of mice.
They are very small, only about 42 cm to 63 cm. It also weighs only a few pounds, usually 1.3 kg to 2.4 kg.
The entire members of the mole family are on the small side, some weighing and growing less than a rabbit.
The little mole deer also have a special feature, that is, unlike ordinary deer with horns, they do not have horns. A deer that doesn't have horns, if you think about its eyes and ears, and its long pointed head, is very similar to a mouse.
The size of the little mole is so small, so how is their combat effectiveness? Is it a weak person in nature who is not easy to defeat other animals? In fact, small moose deer are indeed not easy to attack other animals, and they do not have offensive power. They have two tiny fangs in their mouths, which may only be used to gnaw nuts like squirrels.
It is said that male moose deer use these two tiny fangs as weapons to show each other's fighting power when competing for mating rights for a female mole deer.
In addition to its small size, the little moose is also very special in its reproductive ability. The little mole deer has a super reproductive ability. Unlike ordinary animals, which have a stable and fixed estrus period, the little mole can come into heat at any time and reproduce at any time. It's just that their peak mating season is June and July.
Unlike ordinary mammals, which have a short gestation, baby moose usually have to conceive for four to five months before giving birth to their young. And unlike humans who do not reproduce during lactation, baby moose can breastfeed young while becoming pregnant again.
But the question is, why are they endangered? Was it eaten by other animals?
The answer is not natural selection, but embarrassment from this weak animal. They are afraid of water. The miniature size of the little mole is convenient for them to run through the forest trees, which means that they can always hide themselves from the eyes of hunters or other animals.
In addition, their preferred food is usually banyan trees, wood milk fruit and emblica, which grow in river valleys.
That's the trouble the little mole has to face. In order to eat their favorite food, they have to walk by dangerous rivers, close to water sources. But they are afraid of water, and if they accidentally fall into the water, they will die, and they can be described as looking for food in dangerous areas every day.
After investigation by relevant departments, in the nineties of the last century, there were only about a thousand of this small mole left, which was listed as an endangered animal.
In order to protect it from its demise, Xishuangbanna erected a long bridge for this small animal in 2007.
This long bridge is 30 meters long, precisely to facilitate their walking so that they do not fall into the river. In 2008, the state also built the first mole protection project, which in addition to the cultivation of more than 3,000 kinds of plants they like to eat, it has also become their shelter and breeding research and protection center. #Science##动物 #
