Many people like to use "stupid donkey" to describe the stupidity of others, in fact, donkeys are also very intelligent animals, they are not only beautiful, but also very docile. According to Science magazine, in the Sonoran Desert, the hottest desert in North America, wild donkeys roam around play a role similar to well diggers, digging their own wells and obtaining groundwater by dry streams.
Coincidentally, in the dry wasteland of Coco Xili, the Tibetan wild donkey also has the skill of professional water search, it can find a suitable water source in the arid desert, use the front hoof pit, dig out water to drink, these water inadvertently also provide water for ungulates such as Tibetan antelope.
It seems that a stupid donkey can actually dig a well in the desert to find water, which is really remarkable!
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="26" >01 A group of Tibetan wild donkeys looked around for water sources and found the location of underground water sources through their sensitive noses </h1>
There are many lakes in the no-man's land of Coco Siri, but many of them are saltwater lakes, and the water inside is not drinkable. Although the Tibetan wild donkey living here is extremely drought-tolerant, in the case of extreme water shortage, it can not drink water for 3-5 days, but after a long time, it is still necessary to find water to drink. Don't worry about them, though, they have a special skill – finding groundwater in the desert.
This may be done through their sensitive sense of smell. The Tibetan wild donkey's sense of hearing, smell and vision are very sensitive, not only can detect the situation 500 meters away from themselves, but also detect the water source under the ground.
When the hot summer comes, many streams begin to stop flowing, and some waterways that have been flowing for several years suddenly disappear. At this time, the Tibetan wild donkey found a river bend in the desert area through its nose. Because the groundwater level here is the highest, the sand or gravel is looser, and the location of the water source is relatively shallow.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="30" >02 Dig a 1.8-meter-deep well in the desert, and the water in the well is cool and delicious </h1>
Now that he had found a source of water underground, the Donkey was about to start digging the well. Many people will ask, the Tibetan wild donkey does not have a "hand", is it dug with its mouth? Of course not! The front hooves of the Tibetan wild donkey came into play at this time, and it was like a human hand, and began to dig a well skillfully on the sand.
In less than half an hour, the Tibetan wild donkey had planed a large puddle in the riverbed, and around it, it was piled with freshly planed sand grains. At this time, the sand underground was already very wet, but there was no water, so the Tibetan wild donkey continued to dig deeper until the groundwater gushed out, and the Tibetan wild donkey stopped digging.
This large puddle, which is called a "donkey well" by local herders, is generally 0.5 meters to 1.8 meters deep. As we all know, the Tibetan wild donkey is not good at digging pits, and can actually dig out a 1.8-meter "donkey well"! This depth is even higher than that of the Tibetan wild donkey (the average shoulder height of the Tibetan wild donkey is 1.4 meters).
This "donkey well" provides a steady stream of groundwater for the Tibetan wild donkey, and the water in the well is cool and delicious, and it is cleaner than other water sources. With a water source, the Tibetan wild donkey does not have to worry about it all day and worry about running out of water to drink.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="35" >03 Brown bears come to the "donkey well" with their cubs to drink water, and the Tibetan wild donkey will come back to "repair" the well </h1>
The "donkey well" is very important in Coco Siri, in addition to hiding wild donkeys to drink themselves, it has also become the only available water source for the surrounding wild animals. Many wild animals, such as brown bears, Tibetan antelopes, Tibetan hartebeests and goose-throated antelopes, flock to drink water. It can be seen that the Tibetan wild donkey can not only let himself drink water, but also help other animals by the way.
No, the female brown bear also came to drink the water from the "donkey well", and this guy still came from time to time, and every time he drank a lot of cattle. Not only that, but it also brought a cub, which is an important source of water for their family.
Interestingly, tibetan hartebeests are not honest, they are a group of people, often because of the competition for water resources in the "donkey well". Of course, Tibetan wild donkeys sometimes drive away Tibetan hartebeests at the "donkey well" and prevent them from drinking water.
Every time the Tibetan wild donkey comes back to drink water, it will "repair" the well by the way, and where it is damaged by other animals, it will repair it again, and dig deeper where it becomes shallower.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="40" > conclusion </h1>
It seems that we must "justify" the "water hunter", the Tibetan wild donkey!
Xuelinggu Nature Lab/Production
References: Journal of Science, Nature Communications, Journal of Zoology, Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences