In the eyes of modern people, the bison is a species that is very far away from people's real life. Few people have seen a real bison. More people know interesting stories about bison from documentaries about African bison on TV.
Is the modern bison really only found in Africa? In fact, this is not the case. Africa is one of the places with the largest number of bison today. In addition, there are also traces of bison living in other continents, but most of them are extinct or rare in number. For example, the famous European bison, known as the ancestor of modern domestic cattle, became extinct a hundred years ago. There are also American bison . During the colonial era, American bison were hunted in large numbers, reducing their number from tens of millions to only a few dozen remaining in Yellowstone Park today.
Our country is one of the countries with rich species species in the world. There are also traces of bison activities in our country. So, do you know where these bison live?
The largest habitat of bison in my country: Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and parts of Gansu.
The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and Gansu and other regions are one of the regions with relatively complete wildlife ecosystems in my country. Especially in recent years, the Chinese jackal has been discovered successively in the Qilian Mountains of Gansu and other regions, and rare leopards such as golden leopard have been discovered in Liangshan and other regions of Sichuan. Images of animals reactivating themselves. These signs indicate that the natural ecology in western my country is becoming more perfect and the overall trend is developing for the better, which also provides a stronger guarantee for the survival of wild animals.
Bison are also one of the beneficiaries. In areas such as the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and the alpine grasslands of Gansu, wild yaks are a major local feature. Yak are an important material for Tibetan people's lives, but not all yaks are domesticated. Yes, yaks are divided into wild yaks and domestic yaks. Wild yaks are wild yaks that have not been domesticated at all and live in areas with higher altitudes.
Wild yaks are relatively tolerant of hardship, cold, hunger and thirst, and can adapt well to the harsh natural environment of the mountains. They mainly forage at night or early in the morning and can eat Stipa , Carex , Sedge , Artemisia and other alpine cold desert plants. Because its cry is similar to that of a pig, it is also called "pig sounds like a cow".
Wild yaks have a very ferocious temperament and will actively stay away from humans most of the time. However, when threatened, they will even attack large objects such as cars. The existence of wild yaks is of great significance to the development of the yak population. Wild yaks are called a mobile gene pool. During the breeding season, some wild yaks will mix into the domestic yak population to reproduce offspring, which continuously improves the quality of domestic yaks.
Wild yaks are national first-level protected animals . They were included in the " National Key Protected Wild Animals List " in 2021. The current number is about 50,000, among which golden wild yaks are relatively rare. There are only 100 of them, making them more precious than giant pandas.
The second largest habitat of bison in my country: Yunnan.
Recently, staff at the Nuozhadu Provincial Nature Reserve in Pu'er City, Yunnan captured a set of rare pictures. In the picture, a female bison is walking in the forest with her cub. The female bison is tall and very strong. Except for the white head and limbs, the whole body is covered with dark black fur. The cubs are yellow and look similar to domestic oxen cubs.
This pair of bison mother and child is the Asian bison, also known as white-limbed bison . This is also the first time in my country that a white-limbed bison and its cubs have been photographed.
Asian bison mainly live in India. They can also be seen in Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Pakistan and Myanmar. In my country, they are mainly distributed in Yunnan. The white-limbed bison has a ferocious temperament and a strong physique. An adult white-limbed bison can even weigh about a ton and can sometimes fight against a tiger.
According to survey data in 2018, the number of white-legged bison currently living in my country is about 27, and the main activity area is the Nuozhadu Reserve in Pu'er, Yunnan.
Wild yak and white-limbed bison are real bison. They have no history of being domesticated by people and have pure wild genes. Currently, in addition to these two bison, there are also two semi-wild bison living in our country. Do you know where they are? ?
The third largest habitat of bison in my country: Xishadong Island.
Xishadong Island is a paradise for birds. It is far away from the mainland and is a resting place for many migratory birds that migrate across the ocean. Migratory birds can fly. It is not surprising to fly across the sea to this small island. What makes people wonder is that there are more than 400 bison living here.
When our country's garrison arrived on this island, they discovered a herd of bison on the east island of . The bison cannot swim and cannot migrate across the sea. So where did they come from? There have been two speculations about this. One is that the Han Dynasty general Ma Yuan visited the island during the Southern Expedition. In order to declare his presence here, he deliberately left a group of oxen for supply. Another theory is that Zheng He passed through this place during his voyages to the West and raised a group of cattle here.
However, in 2003, there was a more scientific basis for the statement. According to Professor Sun Liguang of the University of Science and Technology of China, through sedimentological research, it was found that the time when these bison landed on the island was believed to be around 1650. That is, the late Ming and early Qing dynasties.
How did these bison survive on an isolated island overseas for more than 350 years? The answer lies in a small pond. In the middle of the island, there is a low-lying area. During the rainy season, some fresh water is stored here, forming a pond 20 meters wide, 100 meters long, and no more than half a meter deep. Shallow pond. It is this pond that has become the life source of the bison and birds on the island. Until now, our personnel stationed on the island have not used this pond, but left it completely to the bison.
The third largest habitat of bison in my country: Hong Kong, where every inch of land is at a premium.
There are actually bison living in Hong Kong. I believe many people don’t know it, but in fact, there are nearly 1,000 bison living on the south coast of Lantau Island in Hong Kong. These bison are not actually real bison. Since the 1970s, Hong Kong’s economy has The rapid development of China has attracted labor from surrounding rural areas, and some farmland and livestock have been abandoned. These abandoned domestic cattle or buffalo have gradually regained some of their wildness after decades of being released into the wild.
Surprisingly, in the Lantau Island area of Hong Kong, these bison always coexist harmoniously with the local residents, and have become a major local feature, attracting tourists from all over the world and different countries to travel here. At the same time, in order to protect the ecological balance, The local bison management department has also been established to sterilize some bison to control the number of bison groups.
Perhaps Hong Kong’s attitude towards bison can provide a template for other regions to live in harmony with wild animals.
These four places are the four major bison habitats in my country. Are any of them surprising to you?
