Biological Illustration 丨 Mongolian wild donkey: Don't "refer to donkeys as horses" anymore

Tianshan.com reporter Xie Huizhou

技 Donkeys, Guizhou donkeys are poor, donkey lips are not right ... Hey, there are few good words related to "donkey". As a member of the donkey family -Mongolian wild donkeys are really unconvinced.

You still remember that the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics, the ten thousand "horses" Pentium pictures in the winter solstice are actually our Mongolian wild donkeys. Seeing our heroic and galloping Gobi is also spectacular! However, many people who don't know us really refer to "donkeys" as "horse".

At first glance, our appearance is really a bit like a horse. In fact, in addition to a little smaller physique than horses, there are many different characteristics as horses, such as the ears are slightly longer and pointed There is a dark brown back line to the tail base; the abdomen is yellow and white, and the inside of the limbs is milky ... With these, careful humans can actually recognize us.

However, as a national key protection of wildlife, it is not easy for us to encounter it. Not only because we have a small number, we live in the vast Gobi of the desert, and there is also a key factor -our IQ is unusual, so we can adapt to the harsh environment of the desert Gobi. Therefore, in the future, "Stupid Donkey" or "Stupid Donkey" must be thought about it.

In this regard, the research team of Yang Weikang at the Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, can testify all year round.

My family mainly lives in the Gobi area of ​​the south of Mongolia. Casan Reserve "), 80%of which live in the Kashan Reserve.

Recently, I saw a pleasing news that studying our scientists said that my family forces are gradually growing. The number of my companions has been recovered from more than 2,000 in 2016 to about 4,000 horses. This means that if you go out to eat, drink, you will not worry about finding your friends.

The picture shows the Mongolian wild donkey (left) and Panyang drink a spring water. The picture is provided by the Kashan Reserve

Speaking of which, you may be a little curious. What exactly does our so huge family relied on?

In the Cashan Reserve, we generally choose the plain and mountain basins with flat terrain as habitats. Water is the primary factors we think. Generally, we will live in areas less than 20 kilometers away from the water source. In order to ensure safety, we prefer to live in the cluster, and sometimes live with hundreds of companions. This can ensure that when eating or resting, there are always peers in alert. We do not picky eaters. Needles, artemisia, shuttle, and camel vents are all our staple foods. Eating whatever will change with the season.

Not only that, in the dry season of drought, we can also use a deep pits of about 60 cm in areas with high groundwater levels in areas with high groundwater levels, and drinking underground diving later. The local herdsmen call it "donkey well". This "well" not only facilitates us, but also brings convenience to other animals living here. Many times, we can "drink a spring water" with other animals!

In recent years, the most obvious feeling is that as the living environment becomes better and better, not only our Mongolian wild donkey family has grown. In the Kashan Reserve, I also saw a lot of the same kind that I haven't seen before. This fully proves that human beings pay more and more attention to environmental protection and more and more attach importance to the protection of us.

- END -