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Text: Vientiane hardcore
Edited by Vientiane hardcore
«——【Preamble】】 ——»
In January 2015, the website of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) reprinted a news item from the Beijing Morning Post, in which a Laotian villager caught an adult "Asian unicorn"!
The unicorn is a kind of "rui beast" and a symbol of good luck in Chinese mythology, does this animal really exist in real life?
Unfortunately, this "Asian unicorn" seems to be stubborn, and after a few days in captivity by the villagers, it died of weakness.
When the investigation team sent by the Lao government finally arrived at the villager's house for several days, they were not even able to meet the "Asian unicorn" for the last time.
So some experts had no choice but to bring back the dead "Asian unicorn" and make it into the first specimen of the "Asian unicorn".
Some environmental experts say that the "Asian unicorns" that survive in the wild are very rare, and there may be only a few hundred at most, and if they are not optimistic, there may be only a few dozen left.
Therefore, the Lao government gave guidance on this matter, hoping that the villagers should not arrest the "Asian unicorns" when they encounter them again, and avoid the places where they often move.
So what kind of creature is the Asian unicorn, and why are there so few of them?
«—[Critically Endangered "Asian Kirin"·]—»
"Asian unicorn" also has several more popular names, such as the Central South Oryx and the Wuguang Niu.
It has two large straight horns on its head, and when viewed from the side, it will reunite into one at a certain angle, so it is also called the "Asian unicorn".
The Asian unicorn is often elusive, and its scarcity has led to its invisibility for many years, until 1992, when it came to prominence by chance.
The Asian unicorn was listed as "critically endangered" by the IUCN immediately after it was discovered, because people really couldn't find many Asian unicorns in the world.
The Asian unicorn looks like a species that straddles sheep and cattle, and looks similar in appearance to the North African antelope, but genetically resembles the bison.
So the Asian unicorn should belong to which family, the academic community has discussed for a while, but in the end they found that this creature is still very different from the existing known animals, so in the end it can only be re-given a "self-reliant door", and the Asian unicorn became the first member of the bovidae family-south-central and southern oryx.
As of 2008, at least 20 Asian unicorns in the world were kept in captivity, except for 2 that survived in the wild, and the rest did not survive 5 months.
Therefore, people decided to protect the living environment of the Asian unicorn, and perhaps the wild environment is the favorite place for the Asian unicorn to live.
In order to preserve the few Asian unicorns, WWF has also set up a special conservation program for them, recruited a group of residents of the Asian unicorn habitat to maintain the environment, and also investigated and dealt with hundreds of hunting dens.
Even so, the number of Asian unicorns is still precarious, and it has been a headache for experts and scholars, because of its scarcity, it is always a considerable price to pay for some research, and no effective way to restore its population has yet been found.
So how do Asian unicorns reproduce, and can't they increase the number of groups through reproduction?
When it comes to the breeding of Asian unicorns, most of the data comes from a female Asian unicorn found in central Laos.
At first, the female Asian unicorn was alive and well, but unfortunately it died in early 1996, before giving birth to a child.
«—[The "Asian Kirin" who is born to love freedom·]—»
A group of scholars have studied it, and they believe that the child in the womb of the Asian unicorn is not yet mature and has only one child.
According to the appearance of the little Asian unicorn and the gestation period of the forest antelope, it is speculated that its children may exist from August to late November, and will not be born until around April to June of the following year.
They also speculated that the birth season of the baby Asian unicorn should be about the same time as the monsoon landfall, but there may be a difference of 2 to 3 months between the birth of different cubs.
If this assumption is correct, it means that the Asian unicorn is reproducing very slowly, and it is basically impossible to restore the population in a short period of time.
So what are the natural enemies of Asian unicorns, and can they help revitalize their population by controlling the number of natural enemies?
«—[The "Asian Kirin" that lives alone ·]—»
According to reports from local villagers who have seen the Asian unicorn occasionally, experts believe that the Asian unicorn is an animal that likes to live alone, and of course, it seems that some female Asian unicorns will live with their cubs for a while.
And they seem to have a habit of migrating, and in the process of migration, they will travel in small groups of three or two, and basically there will not be many of them.
Most of its habits are also derived from the female Asian unicorn that died in early 1996, such as the fact that they like to be active during the day and rest their heads on the ground at night.
Of course, if the day is too hot, the Asian unicorn generally does not come out to forage in the sun, and will choose to come out in the evening or in the morning when it is cooler.
According to reports, they seem to prefer the leaves of shrubs and fig trees, and they also like to eat herbs called "Millennium Ken".
But the Asian unicorn has a problem, that is, they are very picky eaters, and they will separate the leaves and stems of the plant when they chew, and then spit out the unpalatable stalks.
Then it also likes to drink water, consuming a lot of water at a time, and drinking water for about 4 minutes, it looks like a living "bucket".
What makes people feel good about it is that the Asian unicorn seems to be more friendly to people and basically does not attack, but when facing a very small dog, it is more panicked, and will even arch its spine and lower its head, aiming its horns at the dog, ready to attack at any time.
It seems that the natural predators of the Asian unicorn are probably tigers, wolves, and leopards, and for this reason, the Asian unicorn has also developed a "rough skin and thick meat" neck.
As we all know, animals such as tigers and wolves often choose the weakest neck of the prey when hunting, and once the prey is bitten in this place, there is a high probability that it will die with a whimper.
The skin on the body of the Asian unicorn is generally 1 mm to 2 mm thick, and the thickness of the skin on the neck is about 5 mm.
Some researchers believe that the thick skin on the neck of the Asian unicorn is most likely its "shield", because it is quite difficult to pierce such thick skin with its teeth, and even if there is a conflict within the group, this layer of skin can resist the damage of its companion's horns.
Such a structure undoubtedly increases the probability of survival of the Asian unicorn, but at present, it seems that these survival strategies are far from enough.
So what is the similarity between such a rare Asian unicorn and its appearance?
«—[Fantastic "Asian Kirin"·]—»
The Asian unicorn has a dark brown body and a delicate face, with large horns and white and yellow patches that are half a meter long in both males and females.
It also has a long, white stripe above its eyes, which at first glance looks like eyebrows, and there are also large glands growing in front of the eyes that can emit a pungent smell.
The pungent smell is said to be used to help Asian unicorns mark their territory.
Of course, the Asian unicorn does not stay in one place all the time, they generally prefer to live on the high ground at an altitude of 400 to 800 meters, and sometimes come to an altitude of 200 meters to take a walk.
Depending on the humidity of the season, the Asian unicorn will move frequently, walking to cooler higher altitudes in the summer when it is hotter, and returning to the lower altitudes when it is colder in winter.
They are very timid and shy, so they rarely appear in the field of view, and they never dare to go to places such as farmland that people manage.
The unicorn in Chinese mythology and legend has a lion-like head, horns with spiral lines, a body similar to that of an elk, and a tail a bit like a cow.
Most of these characteristics are also shared by the Asian unicorn, and it is even very similar to the "mountain god" and "spirit animal" in many animations, and its whereabouts are mysterious, so it is called the "Asian unicorn" It is worthy of its name.
Hopefully, the Asian unicorn will thrive in places that people can't see, and what people need to do is to protect these extremely dangerous creatures and stop harming them with impunity.
Reference:
People's Political Consultative Conference Network "Villagers Capture Asian Unicorns in Captivity for Several Days and Die of Weakness" 2015-1-13
https://www.rmzxb.com.cn/c/2015-01-13/430399.shtml