The South China Sea is China's inherent territorial sea, and on top of the vast South China Sea, there are hundreds of islands of all sizes, which are often far away from the surrounding land and emit a mysterious atmosphere.
At the beginning of this century, China's Scientific Expedition to the South China Sea discovered a considerable herd of bison on an island on the Paracel Islands. After careful scientific research, it was found that this herd of bison has survived here for more than 300 years, which makes people wonder, where do they come from? And how did you get to this island?
The Paracel Islands, where bison herds are infested, are one of the four major archipelagos in the South China Sea at present, and they are a very beautiful place with beautiful scenery and abundant products. Indeed, it was earlier rated by National Geographic as the most beautiful island in our country, and it is considered a must-visit tourist destination in life.
The East Island, where the bison herd was discovered, is the second largest of all the islands in the Paracel Islands, and overall, the shape of this island is rectangular, the land area is about two square kilometers, and the entire island is not high, the highest sand embankment is only 8 meters above sea level, and the East Island is all located in the tropics, with a hot and rainy climate. The excellent hydrothermal conditions of the East Island make it very suitable for the reproduction of plants, so the island is full of trees, and about 90% of the entire island is covered by vegetation. In addition to some common natural tropical plants, there are many late-planted coconut trees, loquat trees, etc., and the lush trees naturally provide a rich food source for the bison on the island. In addition, the drinking water here is not a problem because of the abundant local precipitation.
At present, in addition to the bison herd, there are more than 40 species of birds living on the whole island, including some rare species such as golden eagles and white deer.
According to the investigation, from the geological point of view, this small island has been floating and sinking three times in the past 5,000 years, if from this point of view, this group of bison should not live on such an island, that is, how these bison appeared on this island, leaving people with a lot of doubts.
In fact, about this group of bison, there was a legend in the anecdote, saying that when Zheng He went to the West through the East Island during the Ming Dynasty, he once released some cattle here, and these cattle multiplied with the deduction of time, continuously expanded in scale, and finally formed today's appearance. It has also been said that in the second century AD, the generals of the Han Dynasty went south to fight, and cattle were released here, but because of water and soil reasons, only the cattle on the East Island survived.
In any case, these claims are folklore and have no scientific basis to support them. The officers and men stationed in the Xisha area finally gave a statement that was still somewhat based. According to them, they had been concerned about the bison on the East Island for a long time, but the East Island bison at that time was small in size but had a good running speed, so people sent a few strong cattle from the not far side of Hainan Island. Later, after generations of breeding and breeding, the cattle here gradually became physically stronger, and the population slowly increased.
But from the results of the research team, it seems that the cattle here live for about 300 to 400 years, because there is a crescent pond on the southeast side of the island, after years of rain accumulation, the water depth here is usually about one meter, and the land around this pond is basically covered by a layer of cow dung, it is obvious that this is the water source of the local cattle herd, from the composition of the cow dung, these cattle have been living here for more than 300 years.
It is based on this that we will go back to the lens of history, more than 300 years ago, during the turbulent period in the southern region of our country, during this time, many people on the southeast coast dragged their families and mouths to flee to the sea, and these cattle may have been brought over at this time and remained, so the bison currently living on the East Island are probably not really wild, but the previous domestic cattle are rewilded after experiencing the change of time.
However, our concern is that due to the relative simplicity of the ecology on the East Island, as the bison herd continues to grow, these cattle may bring devastating blows to the fragile ecological cycle here. Therefore, in order to maintain the balance on the island, the number of bison on the island should be consciously controlled to protect the fragile ecological environment of the island.