Beijing, October 14 (CCTV) -- According to the "News Hyperlink" of the Voice of China of the Central Radio and Television Corporation, as the saying goes, there are four treasures in Qinling, Shaanxi, crested ibises, antelope running, as well as golden snub-nosed monkeys and giant pandas. This issue of Life Story will introduce you to the antelope in the "Four Treasures of Qinling Mountains".
Antelope, a national first-class protected animal, has a large body, long hair, both male and female have horns, because its horns are curved and twisted, also known as "twisted horned antelope". According to the different origins, there are four subspecies of antelope with different coat colors, namely Gaoligong antelope, Bhutanese antelope, Sichuan antelope and Qinling antelope. Among them, the coat color of Qinling antelope is golden and the most eye-catching, and the coat color of other subspecies gradually becomes darker from north to south.
Qinling antelope (Source: Chengdu Zoo official WeChat public account)
Antelopes and sheep are close relatives
In animal taxonomy, antelopes belong to the bovine family, but not in the bovine subfamily but in the sheep subfamily, so in fact, antelopes are authentic sheep. Why do animals like antelopes appear? Zhang Jinshuo, deputy director of the Institute of Zoology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the National Zoological Museum, pointed out that in the process of domesticating animals by humans, different kinds of animals may be found to cross. For example, the horns of antelopes are thick and straight, and the horns of goats, especially wild northern goats, are also thick and straight, with many ridges distributed on them. However, the horns of sheep are relatively smooth and will bend during growth, shaped like a compass, and this horn is called disc horn. It is said that the ancestor of the sheep was a coiled sheep and therefore had disc-shaped horns, but another view is that the ancestors of the sheep were the European Mophren sheep. Through genetic research, the researchers found that The Morphren sheep and the wild pan sheep are not the same species, so the origin of the sheep may be the result of the hybridization of different sheep species, and the evolutionary relationship between antelope and sheep is more intimate than that of goats and sheep.
4 members of the Antelope family
In the past, antelope was once considered a species, but later, researchers divided antelope into 4 different subspecies through genes, DNA, morphological characteristics, etc. Living in Qinling, the golden retriever is called Qinling antelope, also known as golden retriever; somewhat southerly, in the Sichuan area is active is sichuan antelope, Sichuan antelope fur is less golden, lighter color, usually pale golden yellow, black legs, and even some individual fur only black and white two colors, Qinling antelope and Sichuan antelope two subspecies are unique to China. In addition, the Gaoligong Mountains in western Yunnan are inhabited by Gaoligong antelope, whose coat is darker, the whole body is mainly black, and the fur on the back of the spine is sometimes golden or tan. Bhutanese antelope is a Bhutanese subspecies of antelope, known as "Tajin" in Bhutan, is a local national animal, which is mainly distributed in southeastern Tibet and the alpine valleys in the middle reaches of the Brahmaputra River in China, and the fur color is mainly gray, black and brown. However, no matter which subspecies of antelope has some common and significant characteristics - the appearance of cattle, sheep and antelope, horns like wildebeest, face like camels, back like brown bears, so the antelope family is also commonly known as "six unlike".
The introduction of predators is also a means of protection
A typical feature of herbivores is the need to absorb inorganic salt, they like to eat salt blocks and even eat soil, and antelopes also have a habit of licking salt. With the increase of protection, coupled with the fact that large herbivores are difficult to have natural enemies, antelopes in local areas are "flooded", and there have even been incidents of breaking into human homes to eat salt and injure people. It can be seen that although the increase in the number of wild animals and plants is a good thing, it is still urgent to have a complete food chain and a healthy ecosystem of food nets, so that jackals, tigers and leopards, including eagles, eagles, falcons, crocodiles, harriers and other top predators, participate in the cycle of the ecosystem and achieve ecological balance. One of the purposes of the construction of national parks in China is to ensure the healthy and sustainable development of the ecosystem.
At present, the first batch of national parks, including Sanjiangyuan, giant panda, Northeast tiger and leopard, Hainan Tropical Rainforest and Wuyi Mountain, have been established. In this regard, Zhang Jinshuo said that the establishment of national parks is conducive to promoting the formation of a healthy and complete ecosystem, promoting the sustainable development of animals and plants, including humans, and making people and nature more harmonious.
Producer: Guo Jing
Reporter: Fu Zhao Hejia
Editors: Liu Fei, Yang Yang, Peng Yuji