Bovine New Year Zoo does not open a "small stove"
Chinese impala, Elan antelope, etc. also belong to a large range of "cattle" animals; the Spring Festival of the Year of the Ox "cattle in the zoo"
On February 8, at the Beijing Zoo, a plumping measure in the Qinling Antelope Pen, allowed antelopes to walk on the air bridge. Photography by Hou Shaoqing
Beijing Zoo, belongs to the bovine family of horned antelope. Photography by Hou Shaoqing
Cows in the Beijing Zoo. Photography by Hou Shaoqing
During the Spring Festival, Beijing Zoo will launch a series of popular science articles, and tourists from all over the world can "visit the garden" online to understand the animals' trivia. The "Cattle Trail in the Zoo" science exhibition board introduces visitors to the 13 species of "bovine animals" in the Beijing Zoo.
The Spring Festival of the Year of the Ox in 2021 is coming, and the popular science exhibition board of "Finding Cattle in the Zoo" has been placed at the southwest gate of the Beijing Zoo to introduce visitors to the 13 kinds of "bovine animals" in the Beijing Zoo. According to the zoo staff, during the Spring Festival, beijing zoo will launch a series of popular science articles, and tourists from all over the world can "visit the park" online to understand the small knowledge of animals. Different from the general understanding, in addition to the Qinling antelope, Holstein dairy cow and other animals with "cows" in the name, in fact, chinese impala, Yilan antelope and other animals also belong to a wide range of "bovine" animals. On February 8, the reporter visited the zoo to understand the life of the "bovine" animals.
Visit 1
What are the bovines?
Antelope and wild sheep are both bovines
In the early spring morning, the Qinling antelope in the zoo squinted and curled up on the ground warmed by the sun and snoozed. Like it, the Sichuan antelope, which belongs to the alpine animals, leisurely tastes breakfast - hay.
Also in the herbivores area, the wild sheep next door to the antelope pace slowly in the yard. At this time, some children who came to visit found the clue - why is the wild sheep with a sheep's face and the name also has the word "sheep", and the popular science board says "cattle family"?
Zhang Yuanyuan, a technician of the Beijing Zoo breeding team, explained the reason for this - the bovine family is also called the Cave Horn Family, and the horns of the animals in this family are hollow and do not fork. There are about 100 species of bovine animals, including domestic cattle and sheep. In terms of biological taxonomy, bovine animals can also be subdivided into bovine subfamily, sheep subfamily, and equine subfamily. Among them, the sheep subfamily is the most widely distributed and most complex subfamily of the bovine family. According to the Mammal Taxonomy, the antelope, wild sheep, impala, etc. of the Beijing Zoo are all bovine animals, but in more detail, they all belong to the sheep subfamily. In the Fauna of Africa, the zebra's neighbor, the South African longhorn, which has a cow-like face, belongs to the equine subfamily.
"At present, the zodiac cattle usually refer to domesticated domestic cattle in the cattle genus of the cattle subfamily. In the Beijing Zoo, the only cattle in the children's zoo are holstein cows. ”
Visit 2
How to "liberate nature"?
Mimicking the wild environment to help animals "tickle"
Many tourists have noticed that in the antelope sports field, there are two large wooden frames that lead directly to the roof of the animal barn. The reporter learned that this is the way for breeders to carry out "environmental enrichment".
"Abundance" is to maximize the restoration of the animals' living environment in the wild by adjusting the living environment, feeding time and way of animals, so that they show more natural behavior.
How do breeders enrich the environment for bovine animals? For example, Zhang Yuanyuan said that the Qinling antelope inhabits high altitude areas and is an alpine animal that is good at climbing. Therefore, the staff deliberately built a large wooden frame to create an environment that conforms to its habits and makes the activity space of the antelope more three-dimensional. Visitors can see the antelope climbing up the roof along the wooden frame, ascending to the far horizon, crossing the arch bridge connected to the roof, and then jumping down from the roof.
The northern goats inhabit the bare rocks of the plateau, and their hooves are solid enough to climb the cliffs smoothly. In order to reduce the stress on the animals, the staff built two rockeries in the exhibition area with wooden stakes and reinforced concrete for climbing.
In the wild, antelope, longhorn and other bovine animals walk in the forest, rubbing and rubbing tree trunks to help themselves tickle and comb their hair. At the zoo, staff set up wooden stakes and tied PVC finger pressure plates to help them "tickle".
Visit 3
Spring Festival "open a small stove"?
The nutrition supervisor is responsible for scientific proportioning
During the Spring Festival, the "burden" of three pounds of weight for citizens and tourists every holiday does not occur on animals. In the Spring Festival of the Year of the Ox, the staff will not add meals to the bovine animals to "open a small stove".
Zhang Yuanyuan said that the staff will feed the animals. Bovines have a wide range of feeding ranges in the wild, but in captivity, they are prone to the problem of a single food. To this end, the staff selected seasonal ingredients and changed the small table of bovine animals with colorful patterns. In the summer there is fresh grass fodder and fruit ice, and in the winter, the staff replenishes carrots to ensure nutrition. "Summer feed is abundant, and the horned antelope show off during the breeding season, putting grass on the horns."
However, during the Spring Festival, bovines will not eat as much as humans. "Each animal has a nutrition supervisor, according to their age, weight, scientific ratio of feed, to ensure a stable supply of diet, will not be arbitrarily increased or decreased." It will not be like humans, who will eat more when they are happy during the holidays. ”
In addition, bovines in captivity conditions have a smaller activity area than the wild, and the sandy soil on the ground in the exhibition area is more delicate, and the wear of hooves is small. In order to prevent the excessive growth of bovine hooves, resulting in unstable walking and endangering health, the staff will also regularly repair the hooves of bovine animals for "nail art" and conduct physical examinations. (Reporter Zhang Lu)