To prevent getting lost, the elevator goes directly to the safety island to report Liu Yadong A
Source: Bringing Science Home
Author: Quasimodo by the River
(图片来源:auroraborealisobservatory)
It's Christmas again. In this lively and pleasant atmosphere, Jay Chou finally released a new single "Christmas Star":
"The bell of the reindeer, the meeting of the snowflakes ......"
Wait, the deer that pulls Santa Claus to make deliveries, isn't it an elk?
Elk?
In many advertisements and articles, the deer that pulls the sled for Santa Claus is translated as elk. But this is a big misunderstanding, because Santa Claus may not have seen an elk!
The elk (Elaphurus davidianus) is a species endemic to the continent, and it has a more famous name among the people: the four dislikes. The white-bearded old man who really has a chance to use it as a mount should be him.
In "Romance of the Gods" and folklore, Jiang Ziya's mount is four dislikes, and the so-called four dislikes are "horns like deer, face like a horse, tail like a donkey, and hooves like a cow" (Image source: Internet)
The elk species has had a tortuous history: it was known as 麈 (zhǔ) in ancient China, and was once widely distributed in East Asia, but due to climate change and human factors, its range became smaller and smaller, and by the 19th century, only one population of elk remained, living in the Royal Hunting Garden in Nanhaizi, Beijing.
In that era of poverty and weakness, this animal that was imprisoned by the royal family finally did not escape the fate of extinction in the wild. However, it was only because Westerners introduced elk to Europe and raised them in some zoos that the species survived. In 1983, some of the elk from the UK were sent back to China, allowing the elk to return to their homeland again. We can see elk in some elk reserves such as Nanhaizi Elk Park in Beijing today and Dafeng in Yancheng, Jiangsu.
In the elk in the Yancheng Dafeng Elk Reserve, while the elk population is restored, the coastal wetland has also been protected (Photo source: Yancheng Evening News) How to distinguish an elk? Its antlers are very distinctive, common deer, such as sika deer or red deer, their antlers have only one main branch, and then grow many branches on it, but the antlers of the elk have two main branches, and then grow small branches from above.
If it's not easy to understand, you can imagine turning the antlers upside down, other antlers can't stand, but the antlers of the elk can.
Take a closer look at the elk's antlers, its antlers can "stand on three legs" (Image source: flickr) Today there are about 10,000 elk in China and nearly 5,000 abroad, but it is still an endangered species, and Santa Claus does not dare to use it as a mount.
Deer?
The moose (Alces alces) is also an animal often associated with Santa Claus, especially since it lives in the coniferous and mixed forests of Eurasia and North America, which coincides with Santa's homeland of Northern Europe.
Unfortunately, the moose is not Santa's mount because it is so big. It is the largest cervid in the world, with males weighing 380-535 kg while females weigh 270-360 kg. Compared to this behemoth, the white-bearded old man really looked too weak.
Comparison of the size of adult moose with humans (Image source: Wikimedia) In the Alaska region of the United States and Canada, moose are even more dangerous animals than bears, and moose also cause more injuries than bears every year. In traffic accidents caused by moose, many cars are flattened or smashed by moose. So if you really want to meet a moose in these areas, it's best to walk around it and stay away from it.
In addition to its large size, the body of the moose is also very distinctive, its back is high, so it is a bit "camel", which is also the origin of its name. Compared to other deer, its antlers are very unique: the horns of the moose are not like "branches" of other deer, but a large flat shovel, much like a person's palm facing up.
The moose's antlers resemble a pair of big hands (Credit: WorldAnimalFoundation) The moose's exaggerated antlers serve a variety of functions: not only as a weapon for the buck to fight his "rival in love", but also as a tool for digging food, and they really use the antlers as shovels to dig for food in thick snowdrifts. Some scientists have even speculated that their giant antlers may resemble the pinna of a human ear and have the effect of amplifying sounds. Moose can also be seen in the Greater and Lesser Khing'an Mountains on the mainland and the Altai Mountains in Xinjiang, and like the elk, it is included in the "List of National Key Protected Wild Animals" and is a national first-class protected animal.
Moose living in the Daxinganling Hanma National Nature Reserve in Inner Mongolia, moose are typical taiga creatures (Credit: National Forestry and Grassland Administration)
Deer!
To find the true body of Santa's mount, you also need to find clues from Santa's story itself. Legend has it that the leader of the herd of sledding for Santa Claus is called Rudolph, and it has a very distinct feature: it has a red nose.
In many descriptions, there will be descriptions of Santa's deer being red-nosed (Image source: Internet)
According to the research of scientists, this feature is really not a blind fabrication for the sake of vivid stories, there is really a kind of deer that will have a bloodshot nose that looks red when looking for food, which is the reindeer (Rangifer tarandus).
A team of researchers in Sweden has documented the blood of reindeer concentrating near their noses as they search for food. This can make the reindeer's sense of smell more sensitive and can also help the reindeer improve their recognition of ultraviolet rays and further enhance their vision.
Not only the red-nosed head, but also the antlers of the reindeer are the same as described in the story of Santa Claus. The antlers of reindeer are naturally asymmetrical and generally grow into a shovel-like shape on one side and a normal "branch" shape on the other.
The antlers of a reindeer are a bit like a boomerang (Image source: Internet)
What's even more interesting is that reindeer is the only species of cervid that has horns in both males and females, unlike all other deer. The horns of male and female reindeer are generally shed during the Christmas season, so the horned reindeer who give gifts to Santa Claus are more likely to be female reindeer or juvenile males.
Xi time is up!A is an elk, B is a moose, C is a reindeer (picture source: Internet)
Caribou is widely distributed around the Arctic Circle and is currently the most abundant species of cervid, with nearly 3 million individuals worldwide. But the situation of the reindeer is very unoptimistic: the reindeer feed mainly on lichens and mosses in winter, and due to the abnormal global climate, the area of bare sea in the Arctic has increased, the amount of water evaporation has increased, and the rainfall has increased accordingly. The rain froze on the ground, and the reindeer were unable to dig through the ice to find food, causing many reindeer to starve to death. The warming climate also accelerates the spread of disease and parasites, making it more difficult for reindeer to survive.
Although lichens and mosses do not contain much energy, they contain compounds called arachidonic acid, which can increase the reindeer's ability to withstand the cold. Due to climate anomalies, according to statistics, the number of reindeer has decreased by about 40% in the last 30 years (Image source: Wikimedia)
Reindeer can also be found in China, but they only live in the northeastern woodlands of the Great Khing'an Mountains. In the city of Genhe in Inner Mongolia, there lives a special ethnic minority, the Evenki. They are known as the last reindeer people in China, and the history of reindeer breeding dates back to the Han Dynasty. Reindeer are not only a wealth of the Evenks, but also members of their family. If you're interested in Santa's mount, you don't have to travel all the way to Northern Europe to see well-behaved reindeer.
The Aoluguya Evenki tribe still maintains the Xi of domesticating and using reindeer (Image source: Inner Mongolia Department of Culture and Tourism) Whether it is elk, moose or reindeer, these forest spirits need the protection of us humans. We hope that everyone can have a happy and warm Christmas, and at the same time, we can also pass on our love and care to these lovely animals like Santa Claus.
Resources:
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