Yak is a large-scale livestock in northwestern my country. It is the most important life tool for Tibetans. It can be said that yaks provide most of their daily needs. We all know that there are many domestic yaks. Like scalpers, they are docile animals. But what many people don't know is that there are wild populations of yaks. Where do they live? How does it survive?
Wild yaks and domestic yaks belong to the same animal, but wild yaks are much more wild and aggressive. Wild yaks were once distributed in Xinjiang, Gansu, Tibet, Sichuan, and Qinghai. In provinces, with the increase in population, the habitat of wild yak is gradually shrinking. Nowadays, wild yaks mainly live in in the uninhabited area of northern Tibet from Qiangtang to Hoh Xil, which is affected by humans. The region with the lowest degree is known as one of the last wildernesses in the world. In addition, there are some small wild yak populations in the periphery of no man’s land. These small populations are surrounded by domestic animals and it is difficult to form genetic exchanges with yak populations in no man’s land. On the contrary, it is easy to mate with domestic yak. , Resulting in mixed blood.
The wild yak is a national first-class protected animal. It usually migrates on the grassland in groups of 20 or 30, and sometimes forms a large group of hundreds and is found in no man’s land. The largest wild yak population in China exceeds 500. Wild yak is a large-scale endemic species on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. It currently lives on plateaus between 3000 and 6000 meters above sea level in uninhabited areas, with a population of about 100,000. Because the living environment is concentrated in the alpine grassland or the desolate cold desert area, wild yaks need to consume a lot of calories, so they eat most of the day, roaming while eating, and there is no fixed habitat. Because of its main habitat Located near the snow line, the vegetation is sparse, so it often migrates short distances, and its running speed can reach more than 40 kilometers per hour.
Wild yak has fierce temperament,Can fight bears, snow leopards and wolves.
Wild yak has a ferocious temperament. In no man’s land there are carnivores such as bears, snow leopards, and wolves. These beasts are at the top of the food chain. Wild yaks, which are large herbivores, are naturally included in their diet. However, It is not easy to prey on yaks. Wild yaks living in groups have a unique defensive strategy. When confronted with danger, in order to protect the cubs, the female wild yaks will always make a circle with their heads facing the periphery. Surrounded by the middle, the male yak wandered outside the circle, facing the attack of the wild beasts first.
The male wild yak has a pair of sharp horns, like a dagger. At the same time, it not only has amazing attack power, but also excellent defense ability. Thick and heavy hair covers the whole body, especially the hair on the abdomen is more luxuriant, forming an effective protective layer. Once has a natural enemy approaching, the male wild yak will head down and the tail will face the air, and run wildly facing the beast.
For wild yaks that live in groups, these beasts are very difficult to have a chance. Then, will they have a chance to win against wild yaks that live alone? The wild yak enters estrus in September every year. At this time, the male yak and the old male yak in the herd will be expelled, and some male yaks that fail to compete with the leader will also be expelled from the group. These wandering males Most of the yaks live alone, until the next year they seek opportunities to obtain a herd again. These stray yaks have more ferocious temperament. They need to face the threat of wild beasts alone, so the pressure is higher. For the purpose of self-protection, these wild yaks will actively attack all animals and objects that try to get close to them, even cars. A wild yak can overthrow a jeep.
For beasts, it is not easy to survive on the plateau.Even Tibetan wild donkeys often drive away wolves. If they want to prey on wild yaks, it is even more difficult. They can only find opportunities to prey on old, weak, and disabled individuals. Yaks protected by groups or strong stray yaks are both It's the existence they can't afford. On the grassland, there is a rule that when you see an injured wild yak, you must try to avoid it, because once injured, the wild yak is very irritable and will attack all visible people or animals.
Courtship competition is fierce, and losers often abduct domestic yak into wild.
Every September, when wild yaks enter the estrus period, fierce battles occur between male wild yaks. There are many losers. In order to seek mating opportunities, these losers will turn their attention to the huge number of domestic yaks. Every year during the estrus period, some wild yaks who failed their courtship break into the domestic yak herd to mate, and sometimes take the opportunity to "spin" the domestic yak to rewild.
There is no species isolation between wild yak and domestic yak, and offspring can be produced, but this behavior has advantages and disadvantages for wild yak and domestic yak. The advantage is that the wild yak is cold-tolerant and disease-resistant, maintains excellent sports genes and a strong physique. The first generation of cubs that are crossed with domestic yak will be about 30% larger than ordinary domestic yak The first generation offspring will generally inherit the characteristics of untamed wild nature. The second generation of wild yak weighs 42% higher than the domestic yak, , but after the third generation, the temperament will be much more docile and can be raised in captivity. This kind of gene exchange effectively improves the physique of the domestic yak and brings vitality to the domestic yak.
But for wild yak, this gene exchange is useless. With the increase in the number of livestock, there are now about 3,000 herders with 17,000 people and 1.1 million livestock living in the wild. Near the habitat of the yak, a large number of domestic yaks live near the wild yak population. Some strong male domestic yaks sometimes invade the wild yak population.It brought mixed blood to wild yak, and at the same time, some domestic yaks were brought into the wild yak population, which further increased the number of mixed individuals in the wild yak population.
These mixed yak will dilute the wild gene of wild yak, affect its ability to cope with harsh natural environment, reduce its resistance to natural disasters, and it is also easy to carry some parasites on domestic yak. Infectious diseases have spread to wild yak populations. For wild yaks whose population is much lower than that of domestic yaks, the wild information they carry is very important.
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