Representative of the subfamily of bovine artiodactyls. Family: Bovidae (Cavicornia) \u003d Bovids. Antelope. marking territory

general characteristics

The family of bovids includes 140 species, ranging from a 5-pound dikdik to a 1000-pound bison. An important difference is the horns: they are almost always one pair (the exception is the genus of four-horned antelopes), and the length can be from 2 cm to 1.5 meters. In some species, horns are found only in males, but in most they are found in both sexes. These are bone structures firmly connected to the skull. In contrast to deer and pronghorn, the horns of bovids are never branched. The largest representative of the family is gaur (growth at the withers up to 2.2 m and weighing more than a ton), and the smallest is a dwarf antelope (weighs no more than 3 kg and is the size of a large domestic cat).

The bulk of the bovids live in open areas. The African savannahs are an ideal living space for many species. There are also species living in mountainous terrain or in forests.

Digestive system

Most members of the family are herbivores, although some antelopes can also eat animal food. Like other ruminants, bovids have a four-chamber stomach, which allows them to digest plant foods, such as herbs, which cannot be used as food by many other animals. Such food contains a lot of cellulose, and not all animals can digest it. However, the digestive system of ruminants, of which all are gentle, are able to digest such food.

Horns

Horns are attached to the protruding frontal bone. The length and width are different (for example, the circumference of argali horns is 50 cm). The horns of the canopies grow all their lives, but never branch. Consist of a substance of epidermal origin. Mostly horns are used by males in skirmishes with relatives.

Evolution

Historically, the gantry is a relatively young group of animals. The most ancient fossils, which can be safely classified as gentle, is the genus Eotragus (en: Eotragus) from the Miocene. These animals resembled modern crested dukers, were no more than roe deer and had very small horns. Even during the Miocene, this genus was divided, and in the Pleistocene, all the important lines of modern bovids were already represented. In the Pleistocene, the canopies migrated over the then existing natural bridge from Eurasia to North America. Horned animals did not naturally make their way to South America and Australia, but domesticated species today exist in almost all countries of the world.

According to geneticists, the ruminant separation time ( Ruminantia) on the sloping ( Bovidae) and giraffe ( Giraffidae) dates from the age of 28.7 million years ago (Oligocene).

Classification

Canids are currently subdivided into eight subfamilies:

• Subfamily Aepycerotinae   - Impala
• Subfamily Alcelaphinae   - Bubals, or cow antelopes
• Subfamily Antilopinae   - Real antelopes
• Subfamily Bovinae   - Bulls and horn antelopes
• Subfamily Caprinae   - goats
• Subfamily Cephalophinae   - Dukers
• Subfamily Hippotraginae   - Saberhorn Antelopes
• Subfamily Reduncinae   - Water goats

This family also includes fossil genera:

• † Pachytragus

see also

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Notes

Excerpt from the Bastards

- Sonya? do you sleep? Mother? She whispered. Nobody answered. Natasha slowly and carefully stood up, crossed herself, and stepped cautiously with a narrow and flexible bare foot on a dirty cold floor. The floorboard creaked. She quickly fingering, ran like a kitten, a few steps and took hold of the cold door bracket.
  It seemed to her that something heavy, evenly striking, knocks on all the walls of the hut: it was beating her heart, which died away from fear, from terror and love.
  She opened the door, crossed the threshold and stepped onto the damp, cold earth of the canopy. A gripping cold refreshed her. She felt the sleeping man with her bare foot, stepped over him and opened the door to the hut where Prince Andrey lay. It was dark in this hut. In the back corner of the bed on which something was lying, on the bench stood a tallow candle burnt with a large mushroom.
  Natasha in the morning, when she was told about the wound and the presence of Prince Andrei, she decided that she should see him. She did not know what it was for, but she knew that the date would be painful, and even more so she was convinced that it was necessary.
All day she lived only in the hope that at night she would persuade him. But now, when this moment has come, she has found the horror of what she will see. How was he mutilated? What was left of him? Was he like this was the incessant moan of the adjutant? Yes, he was like that. He was in her imagination the personification of this terrible groan. When she saw the obscure mass in the corner and took his knees raised under the covers over his shoulders, she imagined some kind of terrible body and stopped in horror. But force majeure drew her forward. She carefully stepped one step, the other and found herself in the middle of a small cluttered hut. In the hut under the images, another man was lying on the benches (it was Timokhin), and on the floor were two other people (they were a doctor and a valet).
  The valet stood up and whispered something. Timokhin, suffering from pain in his wounded leg, did not sleep and looked with all his eyes at the strange appearance of a girl in a poor shirt, sweater and eternal bonnet. The sleepy and frightened words of the valet; “Why do you need it?” - they only forced Natasha to come closer to what lay in the corner. No matter how scary or unlike the human body this was, she should have seen it. She passed the valet: the burnt-out mushroom of the candle fell off, and she clearly saw Prince Andrei lying with her arms outstretched, as she had always seen him.
  He was the same as always; but the inflamed complexion of his face, the sparkling eyes gazing enthusiastically at her, and in particular the delicate childish neck protruding from the set-back collar of his shirt, gave him a special, innocent, childish look, which, however, she had never seen in Prince Andrew. She walked up to him and knelt down with a quick, flexible, young movement.
  He smiled and held out his hand.

For Prince Andrew, seven days have passed since he woke up at the dressing station of the Borodino field. All this time he was almost in constant unconsciousness. The hot condition and inflammation of the intestines that were damaged, according to the doctor traveling with the wounded, should have carried him away. But on the seventh day he gladly ate a loaf of bread with tea, and the doctor noticed that the general fever had decreased. Prince Andrey regained consciousness in the morning. The first night after leaving Moscow was quite warm, and Prince Andrei was left to sleep in a carriage; but in Mytishchi the wounded man himself demanded that they carry him out and give him tea. The pain caused by carrying him in a hut made Prince Andrei moan loudly and lose consciousness again. When he was laid on a camping bed, he lay for a long time with his eyes closed without movement. Then he opened them and whispered softly: “What is tea?” This memorability to the small details of life struck the doctor. He felt the pulse and, to his surprise and displeasure, noticed that the pulse was better. To his displeasure, the doctor noticed this because he was convinced from his own experience that Prince Andrei could not live and that if he did not die now, then he would die with great suffering only a few times after. Major Andrey Timokhin, with his red nose, who was wounded in the leg in the same battle of Borodino, was brought with Prince Andrei, who joined them in Moscow. A doctor, a valet of the prince, his coachman and two orderlies were traveling with them.

Akimushkin Igor Ivanovich (1929-1993)

Born in Moscow in the family of an engineer. He graduated from the biological and soil faculty of Moscow State University (1952). Published since 1956.

His first books for children appeared in 1961: Traces of Unseen Beasts and Trail of Legends: Tales of Unicorns and Basilisks.

For kids, Igor Ivanovich wrote a number of books, using techniques that are typical for fairy tales and travel. This: “Once upon a time there was a squirrel”, “Once upon a time there was a beaver”, “Once upon a time there was a hedgehog”, “Animal builders”, “Who flies without wings?”, “Different animals”, “What does a rabbit look like a hare” and etc.

For teenagers, Akimushkin wrote books of a more complex genre - encyclopedic: “River and Sea Animals”, “Entertaining Biology”, “Disappeared World”, “The Tragedy of Wild Animals”, etc.

The focus of Akimushkin is on topical issues of development, conservation and study of the animal world, research on animal behavior and psyche. He wrote not only books for children and youth; but also scenarios of popular science films. A number of Akimushkin's works have been translated into foreign languages. His most famous work is the book “Animal World”.

"The world of animals" is the most famous work of Igor Ivanovich Akimushkin, which has withstood several reprints. They summarized a huge scientific material, used a more modern classification scheme for the animal world, many diverse facts from the life of animals, birds, fish, insects and reptiles, beautiful illustrations, photographs, funny stories and legends, cases from life and notes of a natural observer. Six volumes of "The World of Animals" by Igor Ivanovich Akimushkin came out one after another for a decade - from 1971 to 1981. They were published by the Young Guard publishing house in the popular Eureka series. Over ten years, readers managed to grow up and love these books for life. The first and second talked about mammals, the third - about birds, the fourth - about fish, amphibians and reptiles, the fifth - about insects, the sixth - about domestic animals.

The first book, Animal World, tells of seven orders of mammals: cloacal, marsupial, insectivorous, woolly, predatory, artiodactyl and artiodactyl.

Why Australia before the arrival of man was inhabited only by marsupial and oviparous animals? Who is stronger: a lion, a tiger or a bear? Secrets behind the needles - about the incomprehensible habits of hedgehogs. Igor Akimushkin invites readers to make an exciting journey with him to the animal kingdom. In this book, the author talks about the world of mammals. The theme of human responsibility for the fate of the animals of our planet runs through a red thread throughout the book.

Book:

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In bovids, both males and females (with rare exceptions) wear a pair, or even two pairs of horns. The fact that their horns are hollow, that is empty inside, seems to be beyond doubt, and yet this is not entirely true: the horns are as if “mounted” on rods protruding from the frontal bone.

Shape and size? Here, as the old writers said, "the pen falls out of the hands." They are tuberous, folded, faceted, smooth, twisted, twisted with a bagel, just straight - in general, all sorts of things. The length and width are also different: from miniature hairpins to huge rapiers. Argali horn circumference at the base, for example, about 50 centimeters.

Horned bovids grow all their lives, but never branch. They consist of substances of epidermal origin, an excellent material for the manufacture of glue (the Chinese, as usual, make medicines out of them). Strongly civilized hunters (for example, those who impoverished the fauna of Africa) use hollow horns for ... Well, one African E. Hemingway answered this question: “Tell him that, according to the customs of our tribe, we give horns to our richest friends. Also say that this is a very exciting event and sometimes people with unloaded pistols chase some of our fellow tribesmen. ”

Some zoologists call "horned" animals. All have horns. All kinds of horns: straight and sharp meter bayonets; curved like sabers, twisted by a corkscrew; twisted into a "ram horn"; small as studs - great variety. Horns in females and males, less often only in males. Some will be born with the rudiments of horns, many komolas at birth.

Why do we need horns? It would seem an idle question: for defense and attack. Always thought so. But lately there have been doubts.

If for defense, then why do females, who in this case need horns most of all, often do not have them at all or are they small? Before, it was self-evident that strong and horned males protect females with cubs. But the males of many bovids and do not think to protect their females and children. If a predator is strong and useless to fight, they usually flee first. But even if the predator is small and the horns could come in handy to drive it away, even such strange things were noticed at first glance: the male does not rush to help the female, but to her! When, for example, a female Thomson gazelle happens to hurt and drive a jackal from her cub and she rushes in pursuit of a predator, the male immediately rushes after her and forces her to turn back. What for? Yes, because she is afraid that she would not run away from his harem. This possessive - or rather, sexual - instinct and suppresses the male instinct of caring for offspring.

Not everyone does this, but many do. True, in musk oxen and American snow goats, with the threat of a wolf attack, males always combine their efforts to repel predators. Large bulls, buffaloes, for example, do not give in to lions. It's right. But what’s interesting: buffaloes, musk oxen, and snow goats, that is, those who are most active in horns, they are not the best devices. Either small, like a snow goat, or too curved. And here we would need straight, sharp, like swords.

But, perhaps, horns are necessary for fighting relatives for females and territory? Indeed, males of gazelles, for example, and many other bovids, are ten times a day butting each other. But horns are used with great care, not for mutilation, but for the confrontation of the ritual. Of course, it happens, and often, when mortal wounds are inflicted by a blow to the side, to the most unprotected place. But this is rather the exception. Usually, males before the fight according to the rules that evolution has laid in their instincts, stand in a certain position: head to head. Here the blows are delivered flat horns. Such fencing, a better word, is not necessary, as is customary with antelopes. At the same time, some even kneel down (roan antelopes and nilgau) and, straining their forces, try to push away or knock down the enemy. The roan antelopes abut in this power struggle with the middle of the horns bent back, and the nilgau with their foreheads. Nilgau, twisting their necks, trying to knock down an opponent. And all this kneeling!

By the way, neck wrestling is one of the initial ritual forms. Just like bites. During evolution, in many species, it was replaced by fencing and confrontation with interlocked horns. It is interesting that females and cubs who have no horns or are small, like a peculiar atavism, have preserved the more ancient ritual tactics of struggle: bites, kicks, neck girth, forehead punch to the side.

Hornless females often beat not in the forehead, but in the side. Males almost never: otherwise they would have killed each other in the first skirmishes. The ritual rules of the struggle (of course, not consciously observed, but instinctive), developed over millions of years of evolution, are designed to protect fighters from serious injuries and death in skirmishes. It is wonderful!

At first glance, sheep’s duels are quite dangerous: they run up and crash together with their foreheads.

But they can afford this entertainment, because their horns, and necks, and frontal bones are strong and withstand such blows well. But the foreheads of the goats are not suitable for a ram. They fight, hitting horns from above, and therefore stand on their hind legs before hitting. You can not keep a goat in the same enclosure with a ram. The goat is arrogant, does not calculate his strength well, and the ram has an armored skull. And if a ram, having fled, hits a goat directly in the forehead, it can kill, break its neck or pierce its skull.

In addition to certain fighting rules that limit mutilations, all animals and bovids also have special poses of submission and pacification, which allow the weak to avoid a fight. Thomson’s gazelles have a recumbent neck with an elongated neck. Some fall to their knees. Therefore, the bull in the arena freezes and does not rush at the matador, when he, kneeling by the very face of the bull, does his tricks. The animal’s healthy instincts paralyze its aggressiveness, and a person with a sword, violating the moral of nature, acts in this case as a sadist: after all, everyone knows the continuation.

That's about horns for now. Now about those who wear them on their heads.

This is an extensive family. Everything in it is ruminant, all artiodactyls: 128 species. They are divided differently and into different numbers of subfamilies. Take for example the unit that is perhaps the least complex:

1. Bull: 13 wild and domesticated species of bulls (buffaloes, zebu, gaur, guyal, coprae, bison, bison, yak, etc.); 9 species of African antelope antelopes (Kudu, Nyala, Sitatunga, Kanna, Bongo, etc.) and 2 species of Asian antelopes (Nilgau and four-horned).

2. Dukers: the smallest of the antelopes, 17 species, all African.

3. Horse antelopes: water goats, readboks, oryxes, bases, saber-horned and horse antelopes, cow antelopes (swamps, kongongs, wildebeests) - 24 species, all African, except for the Arabian oryx, almost exterminated.

4. Gazelles: impalas, wild-wilds, oribi, beirs, gerenuk (giraffe gazelle), Thomson's gazelle, gazelles, grains - 37 mainly African and partially Asian species.

5. Goats: goats, rams, chamois, gorals, saigas, takines, musk bulls - 26 mainly Asian, European, partially North American and African species.

In South America, there are no wild canopies, as well as in Australia.

So, about the bulls. But before we begin, a little distraction for one necessary clarification. It refers to the word "antelope", which is more literary and everyday than zoological in a strict scientific sense. In general, antelopes are usually called such bovids, which are not bulls, sheep or goats. Medium-sized antelopes are also called gazelles, and the smallest - dukers.

Large kudu live in Africa - from Ethiopia to Angola and the Zambezi River in the south. Lesser kudu is found only in Somalia and eastern Africa.

Large kudu live in Africa - from Ethiopia to Angola and the Zambezi River in the south.

Lesser kudu is found only in Somalia and eastern Africa.

“The beast is like a horse, is terrible and invincible, to have a horn between the ears, its body is copper, in a rose to have all the strength. There are no friends for oneself; 532 years live. And always throws its horn open the sea and a worm grows from it; and from that there is a beast unicorn. And an old beast is not strong without a horn, orphans and dies. ”

So the Russian ABCs talked about the unicorn, too generally "literary" told, because the prototype of the unicorn, as it turns out, was ... a bull.

Archaeologists, excavating on the site of the ancient cities of the Middle East, found Assyrian and Babylonian bas-reliefs and letters, from which it turned out that the Hebrew word "rey", translated by the Greek Bible as "unicorn", actually meant a wild bull of the tour, quite two-horned.

The royal, or dwarf, antelope is the smallest of the antelopes: growth is only 25 - 30 centimeters. Her jumps are magnificent - almost three meters in length. Royal antelopes live in West Africa (Liberia, Nigeria). The second, somewhat larger species is in Nigeria and Cameroon.

So, the tour. He is (at the withers) up to two meters tall, weighing a ton! Black, cows and calves - red. But you can argue about the color ... Remember the epics: “I wrapped Dobrynya with a bay tour”, “Where the nine rounds go bay” ... Our ancestors were not color blind to confuse black with red! Nevertheless, the tour is considered to be black, or rather, “it was black”, where a short “was” completely deprives us of the opportunity to find out the true truth.

For these bulls are now gone. They were exterminated. And although this happened recently, the tour was thoroughly forgotten everywhere. He remained in epics, proverbs, some ancient rites (for example, dressed up in saints) and in the names of places and surnames: Turovo, Tury, Turov log, Turova howl, Turgets, Turov. The Uri canton in Switzerland, whose citizen was called Dostoevsky's Stavrogin, also owes the name to the wild bull: “Urus” in Latin, “ur” in German - the name of the tour.

But still the assertion that the bull was black has good reason. Different images of the tour reached us, and the best of them is the famous Augsburg painting. She was found in the antiquary shop by the English zoologist Smith. It was drawn at the beginning of the 16th century by some Polish artist (and just about three hundred years ago the tour disappeared from the face of the Earth). This, it turns out, “posthumous” portrait (he disappeared, only a copy that Smith made was preserved) portrayed the tour in black - one must think, not for the sake of mourning.

But, of course, whatever it may be, the image cannot serve as serious enough evidence, because artists and throughout all ages have been very inclined in their works to different liberties (Assyrian and Babylonian bas-reliefs, for example, on which the tours are unicorn, and horses ": They have only two legs).

The proof is different. In 1921, the German zoologists brothers Lutz and Heinz Heck, having traveled around Europe in search of "round" bulls and cows (and finding suitable ones), began a wonderful experiment: they decided to revive the tour using the methods of backcrossing.

The "restored" rounds are all like extinct: a black suit, large sharp horns. But cows and calves are bay - that means genetics have achieved the most difficult: sexual and age dimorphism, that is, different colors and appearance of females, males and cubs. And finally: the “restored” tour is so similar to that depicted in the Augsburg drawing that it seems as if they were drawing from it.

But even in the last century, even some serious naturalists did not believe that there was such a bull-tour on Earth. Everything that the ancients spoke of him was attributed to the bison. Even V. I. Dahl identifies the words “tour” and “bison”, although he might not have done so, because by the time he was composing his famous dictionary, the French anatomist and paleontologist Georges Cuvier had already proved that he had once lived a long-legged Big Bull - Tour.

Dukers — probably seventeen of them — are found all over Africa south of Sudan. The growth in the shoulders of different species is from 35 to 50 centimeters, and the weight oi 5 to 65 kilograms. In all but the gray duker, in which females are usually hornless, both sexes wear small horns.

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Males, and mostly females, have horns. Horns of canopies represent constant, irreplaceable outgrowths. The absence of horns (chafing) in males is sometimes observed as a domestication of the frontal bones, dressed on the outside with horn covers from the modified epidermal layer of the skin.

Unlike the Pronghorn family (Antilocapridae), the horn covers do not fall off and do not change throughout the life of the animal. The growth of the horn, as opposed to deer (Cervidae), occurs not at the top, but at the base; the top represents its oldest part, formed in the first stages of formation. A periodic increase and deceleration of the growth of horns is characteristic, which is expressed in the formation of rings on the surface of the horn covers and is obviously associated with the cyclic function of the reproductive system.

The shape of the horns is very diverse, but never branched. Horns may look like simple matches; there are arched bent forward or backward; cochlear-like; coiled or twisted into a spiral; straight, standing upright or pointing back. Twisting and coagulation of horns can be homonymous or heteronymous. The length of the horns can be small, not exceeding half the length of the skull, or, conversely, exceed the latter by several times.

Habitat and distribution of bovids

Europe, Asia, Africa, North America and the adjacent islands. None in Australia, South America, Madagascar and Sakhalin. In New Zealand, acclimatized. At home, distributed throughout the world.

The evolution of the bovids

The flat-shelled family is phylogenetically the youngest and most numerous of the modern groups of ungulates, which have not yet survived the era of their heyday. The roots of the bovids lead to the Lower Oligocene deer (Tragulidae). Their immediate ancestor or initial form is not known, but probably the genus Gelocus Aymard, who lived in Europe in the Lower Oligocene, was very close to that. Gelocus did not have horns, his ulnar bone was independent, but the tibia was strongly reduced. Lateral fingers when walking, probably touched the ground. On the forelimbs, the central (III and IV) metapodia were separate, but on the hind limbs the corresponding bones merged and formed a foregrip. Both lateral metapodia preserved both proximal and distal vestiges. The molars were of an extremely brachiodont type, the superior saber-shaped fangs were preserved, but the upper incisors had already disappeared, and the fangs of the lower jaw were functionally incisors. The premolars had an extremely primitive device, with the first of them in the upper jaw already disappearing, while in the lower jaw it still remained.

Forms intermediate between deer and true bovids are not yet known. Antelopes lived in the Middle Miocene of Europe, possessing non-replaceable horns, but still with extremely primitively arranged brachiodontic molars of the skull and a long, horizontally located embryonic part. They could be considered the initial forms for all subsequent bovids. But in layers of the same age in Europe and even earlier in Mongolia, relatively highly specialized representatives of the family were found, which suggest that the departure of the ancestors of the bovids from the common trunk of the Resoga occurred no later than the Upper or even Middle Oligocene. The Eurasian continent, where at the junction of it with Africa lay the primary center for the settlement of this group, should be considered the birthplace of the bovids. Secondary centers were, on the one hand, Central Asia, and on the other, areas adjacent to India, west of the latter.

A characteristic feature of the bovids - covered with a non-removable cover of the horns - apparently did not appear immediately in the history of this group. The initial forms probably had no horns or had small outgrowths of the frontal bones, covered with periodically shed caps of keratinized skin. The original purpose of the horns is the decoration of males and tournament weapons. As a weapon of defense against enemies and attacks, they began to serve later.

Classification of bovids

The division of bovids with bulls, goats, rams and antelopes that has existed since the time of Pallas does not correspond to modern ideas about their phylogenetic relations and therefore has been abandoned by most zoologists. The obviously artificial group of “antelopes” in the system is eliminated, since many of them are genetically closer to bulls or goats with rams than to other antelopes. However, there is no agreement on the relationship of the individual Bovidae groups to each other and the related division of the whole family into subordinate groups, and its classification is carried out in different ways. Basically, the division of bovids into six subfamilies is accepted.

1. Real antelopes (subfamily) - Antilopinae. With few exceptions, only males have horns; the bases are located above the orbits, massive, without internal cavities inside the rods. The nostrils are located close to each other; the distance between them is not greater than the height of the upper lip (from its lower edge to the nostrils). The mammary gland has four nipples. The corneal part of the skull is long, more than the length of the forehead. The frontal bones are short, not more than 36% of the main length of the skull. The auditory blisters are swollen. The middle pair of incisors is greatly expanded compared to others and has the form of asymmetric blades. Distribution: Africa, Western, Central, Central and South Asia, some areas of southern Siberia (Altai, Tuva, southern Transbaikalia).

2. Dukers   (subfamily) - Cephalophinae. The horns are often found in females, massive, without internal cavities inside the rods. The nostrils are located close to each other, the distance between them is not greater than the height of the upper lip from its lower edge to the nostrils. The mammary gland has four nipples. Unlike other canopies, the preorbital glands are located in the middle of the distance between the nostrils and the eyes and open with a series of linearly located small holes in the skinless area of \u200b\u200bthe hair. Distinctive features in the skull are also very large preorbital fossae, the formation of which involves the greatly enlarged nasal bones in the posterior half, and the bases of the horny processes shifted far beyond the orbits, while not extending to the sides beyond the borders of the brain box. The corneal part of the skull is much shorter than the length of the forehead. The frontal bones are long, more than 36% of the main length of the skull. The auditory blisters are swollen. The middle pair of incisors is greatly expanded compared to others and has the form of asymmetric blades. Distribution: Africa south of the tropic of the north. Over 30 species of dukers are morphologically close to each other and are usually combined into one genus Cephalophus H. Smith.

Infraclass - placental

Family - Gentle

Literature:

1. I.I. Sokolov "Fauna of the USSR, Ungulates" Publishing House of the Academy of Sciences, Moscow, 1959.

Horned - the largest, youngest and most progressive family of artiodactyl squad. Its name does not exactly reflect the structure of their horns. They are not hollow. On the outgrowths of the frontal bones of the bovids there are bone rods, dressed outside with a horn cover. Removed from the bone rods, they become hollow, as any cover is supposed to be. From horn covers, decorating them with silver, and sometimes with precious stones, it is customary in the Caucasus to make expensive goblets in which wine is served at the feasts for the most honored guests.

According to a long-established custom, bisexuals use one pair of horns. The one exception is the four-horned antelope. They have two small horns on their foreheads and two more, more

long, on the crown of the head. Both males and females can flaunt horns, although the representatives of the weaker sex, they are usually somewhat smaller than the males. Horns grow all their lives, so by their size you can partially judge the age of the animals. The growth of horns occurs from the bottom up. None of the flat-horned horns branch and do not change throughout life, as is the case with deer on a regular basis.

Horns can be formidable weapons. However, the use of horns for defense is apparently their secondary function. In some representatives of this family, they have an exotic shape and are not suitable for use as peaks or swords. The rams are so twisted that they hit the enemy

Antelope. marking territory.

Gazelle Grant.

Saber-horned antelope.

the tip of the horn is almost impossible. Not adapted for defense and horn of spinboks. Their tips are bent inwards, and for chamois and takins - back. Even among the owners of a truly formidable weapon, not everyone uses it to protect them from predators. The initial function of the horns, apparently, were the ritual battles of males. And do not be surprised that combat weapons are used in sports tournaments: the more dangerous they are, the stricter are the rules for their use, which exclude the possibility of causing serious harm to the enemy and injury. During tournaments, no one hits the opponent sideways. Long-horned antelopes fencing with horns, like rapiers, striking not on the body of the enemy, but striking flat on his horns. The sportiness of the competitions is also evidenced by the fact that in many species of flat-handed opponents fight

kneeling down or, like goats, they stand on their hind legs and beat from top to bottom, trying to get horns in the horns. At first glance, only the battles of rams that run away and with a loud crash collapse with their foreheads seem fatal. Blows have really terrible power, but they are not dangerous for rams either. The bones of their skulls and cervical vertebrae have increased strength, and the brain does not suffer from concussion.

Some canids do not use horns during tournaments. Males of large Nilgau antelopes kneel during the battle, rest their foreheads against each other and try to move the enemy or intertwine their necks and try to knock the competitor on their side. Fatal outcomes of battles are rare, since rivals, if one of them is tight, surrenders to the winner, taking the pose of appeasement. In this case, they are guaranteed immunity. A pose of appeasement, a request for clemency may be a fall on your knees,

which is clear even to us people. Another way is using Thomson's Gazelles. They flatten on the ground, clinging to her head and outstretched neck. Only females do not consider it mandatory for them to observe the unwritten rules for conducting tournament fights. Representatives of those species that are not supposed to have horns, in conflicts between themselves, beat each other with their heads to the side.

Of the other features characteristic of most bovids, the absence of incisors and fangs in the upper jaw and the presence of skin glands producing odorous substances are especially important. Glands can be located on the head, at the base of the tail, in the groin, between the hooves and in other parts of the body.

The bovine family includes 10 subfamilies and about 120 species, widely distributed throughout the world, which indicates its progressive development. They are not only in South America and Australia. But they have mastered the rest of the continents completely - from the lowland Arctic tundra to the snowy highlands and from marshes and humid tropical forests to waterless steppes and deserts. However, Africa is undoubtedly their patrimony. The largest number of bovine species lives here.

Not only is the bovine family rich in species, representatives of these species are very diverse. First of all, this is manifested in their size. Among the canids there are quite a few very large animals, such as bulls (bison, bison, buffaloes), and very small ones, which are about the size of a cat, such as the royal dwarf antelope and dikdi, reaching a height of 25 to 35 cm in the withers and a weight of 3 to 10 kg

In the subfamily of dwarf antelopes and dukers, the smallest bovids are combined. The names of animals speak about their size: a dwarf antelope, a baby suny antelope, a baby antelope. Most babies are some dikdi, whose skin is widely used in glove production. They are so small that two antelope skins leave for a pair of female gloves.

Merino sheep and fat tail sheep (below).

Snow ram.

ki. Dukers are not giants either. The smallest ones are the size of a hare, and the largest are no more than roe deer. All males have horns, although sometimes they are tiny, not exceeding 1-1.5 cm in length. The feet of babies are the thickness of the little finger of an adult, and the hooves on them are slightly larger than the female marigold. However, mini-antelopes are swift and jumping. They easily and naturally make jumps up to 3 m in length. The vast majority of these animals live in forests or shrubs, and some of them like the plains, and some prefer the mountains, some like arid forests, others are found only in humid areas. They do not gather in herds and live singly or in pairs. Males rub their muzzles on tree trunks, leaving odorous marks on the borders of the plots they occupy, the allocation of infraorbital glands. Some of them label females in the same way, and those in turn mark their children. Kids feed on leaves, berries, fruits and are always ready to feast on a fat snail or caterpillar, eat a lizard or a frog, and if lucky, they catch birds. Dukers do not just grab game that has turned up by chance, but really hunt, carefully sneaking up, and only when they are very close make a throw. A frog or gecko is grabbed directly by the teeth, and a flying bird is shot down by a blow of the front leg.

The subfamily of antlerope unites large animals. They are second only to bulls in size and weight. Their most characteristic feature is horns twisted into a spiral; however, the degree of twist in different species is far from the same. Greater Kudu is the most typical representative of this subfamily. This is a large animal, reaching a height of 1.5 m. The heads of the males are decorated with huge, up to 1.5 m, horns, and the females do not have horns. Females with calves keep in small groups of 6-10 animals or herds of up to 30-40 animals. Bulls join them only in the mating season. At this time, stubborn fights arise between the males. Sometimes they adhere so tightly with their horns that they can no longer disengage and die in the claws of lions. For life, kudu choose rocky plains, certainly with dense shrubbery and good watering places.

An unusual way of life is inherent in the sitatunga. This is not a very large dark-colored antelope. Despite the fact that it lives in the hottest areas of the planet, the body of the antelope is covered with long thick hair. But the most unusual for bovids is the strongly elongated sitatunga hooves reaching 10 cm. Their structure is explained by the fact that the antelope lives in swamps and spends most of its life knee-deep, or even waist-deep in water. The sitatunga swims beautifully, knows how to dive and hide in water, as hippos do, exposing only nostrils above its surface. Here, in the center of the swamps, she is not afraid of lions, nor leopards, nor a man with a gun.

The big hoofs of the sitatungs are able to spread widely, which allows her to feel confident in any bogs. In the depths of the African swamps warmed up by the sun and almost completely deprived of oxygen, all vegetation perishes and decays. The processes of decay are proceeding here with cosmic speed, but the development of new plants on the surface does not lag behind the processes of their decomposition. The upper layer of swamp turf is usually a thick weave of thick stems and no less strong rhizomes that have not yet had time to collapse. The human leg does not find support here, slides off these slimy plant ropes, pushes them apart, and the person falls to the waist. With the sitatung, swamp, water and reed goats, also belonging to the bovine family, this does not happen. Their hooves act as captures. The messy interweaving of plant residues is so dense that at every step between the hooves some kind of rhizome or stem is able to withstand the weight of the animal, or even several “ropes” at once, and the sitatung calmly overcomes such areas where animals with a much larger area supports, but not having cloven hooves, hopelessly bite.

If needed, the sitatungs remain for weeks on the neck in the water. Interestingly, her long and thick fur does not get wet. Hair prevents the secretion of sebaceous glands from water. Only because of this, the sitatungs are able to remain in the swamp bogs for a long time without going to land to dry out.

At the antelope of Cannes, another representative of the antaropes, males and females own horns. In males they reach a length of 1 m, while in females it is much shorter. Canna is the largest of the antelopes. Its height at the withers can reach 180 cm, and weight - 943 kg. Cannes live in arid regions of Africa, keep in small groups of 8-10 animals, but can form large herds during migrations caused by drought. Cannes feed mainly on grass, and when it turns into dry straw, they switch to foliage of trees that are resistant to drought. These antelopes are able to do without water for a long time, but they obviously do not like this existence, because if they have watering holes, they willingly drink water.

It is unclear why Cannes was not domesticated at one time. As a result of systematic persecution, these antelopes have now become very shy and mortally afraid of humans, but, once in captivity, they gradually become tame. Currently, African farmers in the driest areas of the continent began to breed cannes in large enclosed pens. Cannes can exist on the most scarce feeds, unsuitable for livestock, and in addition, they are not susceptible to many dangerous diseases of the hoof -

Buffalo.

Kanna.

Wildebeest.

ny, such as, for example, sleeping sickness, raging in the African bush. Breeding cannes for meat (and they have excellent quality) is much more profitable than breeding cows and sheep.

At the end of the last century, a large group of cannes was introduced into the Askania-Nova steppe reserve. Since then, a systematic formation of a herd of giant antelopes has been going on. Now Askanian cannons are quite domesticated animals. Unlike African farmers, our breeders sought to create a milk cannon breed. Although antelopes give milk significantly less cows, they are four times fatter, and besides, milk left in the sun does not sour for 10 days. This is due to the fact that it contains natural substances that kill microorganisms. The presence of these substances makes milk medicinal. A small hospital has even been opened in the Askania-Nova Nature Reserve, where, without surgical intervention, cannabis can be used to treat stomach ulcers and, more importantly, duodenal ulcers, which usually respond poorly to medical procedures.

Representatives of the subfamily of cow antelopes are also predominantly large animals. Of these, wildebeests are most famous. They have a heavy head, a disheveled beard and fancifully curved horns, and a shaggy mane on their forehead, throat and shoulders.

There are two types of wildebeest. White-tailed is almost completely exterminated by the colonialists of South Africa and is preserved only in reserves. Blue Wildebeest has survived better than all other antelopes. The favorite habitat of these animals is the savannah. Wilderness is the main food of wildebeest, but animals do not eat all plants

contract. Therefore, the easily occurring lack of feed and drought force them to undertake distant migrations twice a year. Scattered herds of wildebeest scattered across the vast expanses of the steppe, walking in a chain stretching from horizon to horizon, can now be seen in many parts of Africa. In addition to lions and hyena dogs, no one is particularly threatened by adult wildebeests. In the afternoon, the mother can not only fight off the leopard herself, but also protect the calf. The hyena, who ventured to get to the baby, she will chase the steppe for a long time. But at night, in the turmoil raised by the attack of lions, the female often loses a newborn. This is widely used not only by hyenas, but also jackals. If a young inexperienced mother chases one of the attackers at dusk, his fellow tribesmen will not fail to take advantage of this to attack the calf.

The most beautiful antelopes, perhaps, belong to the subfamily saberhorogs. These are large slender animals with huge beautiful horns. In a horse antelope they are sickle-curved and reach a length of 90-95 cm, and in a smaller black antelope - even 170 cm. Long straight and sharp horns of oryxes serve as an excellent weapon for them. There are cases when these antelopes killed lions. Oriks are lovers of the arid regions of the planet. Oryxes are kept in small groups of 6-12 goals. They feed on grass, young shoots of shrubs, they are able to dig out from the sand the moisture-retaining roots of plants, their bulbs and tubers. Animals graze in the early morning and late evening when coolness reigns in the desert, and the hot time of the day is spent lying in the shade of rocks, in deep ravines, looking for a hole or fencing off from the sun with the shadow of bushes and

Warthog.

roars. But if the need arises, the oryx can in the heat of heat set free from any pursuer. On the run, they do not suffer from heat. Air bursting into their wide nostrils cools the blood flowing into the brain, so that the vital centers of the animal are safe from overheating, and a slight increase in temperature is not dangerous for the muscles.

Representatives of the gazelle subfamily are small, slender and graceful long-legged animals with their heads held high, decorated with black horns. They live in Africa and Asia. In the CIS, gazelles, found in Azerbaijan and Central Asia, are most famous. These sand-colored gazelles live in deserts and arid mountain valleys. Dzheyrany feed grasses, shoots of bushes, bulbs. At the height of summer they move closer to the water; according to the ideas of the gazelles, it should be at a distance of 10-15 km, and they go to quench their thirst once every 3-7 days. Often they drink the water of bitterly salty lakes, the Aral and Caspian seas. Dzheyrans graze at dawn and at sunset, and in the afternoon they seek shelter from the sun.

Marriage ceremonies take place in the fall. Males first set up restrooms on their sites: they dig holes with their front legs and leave their litter in them. If another male comes across such a restroom, he throws out the litter of the owner from it and replaces it with his own. Restrooms serve as odorous lighthouses. They are designed to indicate occupied territory and attract females. In April, when the time of birth comes, the female separates from the group and looks among the thickets of bushes for an even, bare patch.

Saiga.

Two newborn babies lie separately, spreading out on bare patches of soil. They are so well painted that it is difficult to notice them. A mother comes 3-4 times a day to feed her children, and in two weeks the babies can already accompany her. Previously, when gazelles were numerous, they were a favorite hunting object. At present, the number of gazelles has declined sharply, and hunting for them is completely prohibited.

The main representative of the saiga subfamily is the saiga, or saiga. In the era of mammoths, saigas inhabited the entire steppe part of Europe and Asia, and now they are preserved only in Kalmykia

Pistachio pig.

Horned Goat.

Dairy goat (above) and down breed.

and in the Central Asian steppes. In spring, the females go to the “maternity hospital”, where from year to year they bring one cub each. The baby lies on the bare earth, because at night no dew falls on such sections of soil. As soon as the newborns get stronger, the animals embark on new journeys. Saigas are surprisingly hardy animals that can, if necessary, overcome hundreds of thousands of kilometers in a short time. Currently, they have become an important target of commercial hunting. They have tasty meat, a good skin, and the horns are used to make medicines.

There is no need to list the main features of the subfamily of goats and rams. These animals are easily recognizable. Their homeland is Eurasia, from where they settled in Africa and America. Among them are chamois, Caucasian tours, argali and mouflon, even sheep living in the Arctic Circle even beyond the Arctic Circle.

Goats are characterized by a gray inconspicuous color matching the color of the rocks. Most of them have huge horns. For bezoar and Siberian goats, they are bent backwards, as in the old days skid runners were bent, and for horned horns there is a huge “corkscrew” up to 120 cm long on their heads. The muzzle of both males and females is most often decorated with a beard, and the exclusive accessory of males is the odorous gland located under the tail, the stench from which is difficult to transfer.

The tenth subfamily of bovids is bulls. These are the largest of the bovids. Bulls have a four-chamber stomach. In the pasture

Babirussa.

they hastily tear the grass and, without subjecting it to special treatment, send it to the first two chambers of the stomach, and then, while resting in a half-asleep, burp it from there, chew it melancholy and send it to the following departments (see also the article “Simple”). This way of feeding allows the bulls not to linger for a long time on pastures, where they can be attacked by predators. Now 10 species of bulls have been preserved. Bulls live on all continents except Australia and South America. Among them are bison, bison, tour - the wild ancestor of a domestic bull exterminated by man. The last round died in Poland in 1627. True, the German zoologists Brothers Heck, shortly before the Second World War, tried again to "put together" genes scattered like fragments over the breeds of a domestic bull

Buffalo and heron.

tour. And they succeeded - an animal that was apparently indistinguishable from the tour was bred. But this is not a “real” wild tour, but only a livestock breed.

Yaks are close relatives of real bulls. These are large animals with a height of up to 2 m at the withers. Their thick hair forms a kind of “skirt”, under which the mothers hide the calves from the cold, and when they lay in the snow, it serves as litter. Wild yaks that live in the highlands of Tibet are not at all afraid of frosts and swim all winter in non-freezing reservoirs. These are ferocious creatures that do not even retreat in front of man.

Even 3 thousand years ago, they were tamed by people. Domestic yaks are smaller and calmer than wild ones. They are used in our country for transportation of heavy loads. Yaks have excellent wool, milk and meat, they do not require special care and are able to be content with the sparse vegetation of the mountains.

Buffaloes are not considered real bulls. There are only 3 types of them. The smallest, calf-sized, dwarf anoa buffalo is an inhabitant of the swamp forests of Sulawesi Island. Water buffalo is one of the largest bulls. Its huge horns, sometimes more than 2 m long (these are the longest horns in the world), are directed back. Animals are attached to water and are found only near rivers and marshes, willingly eat aquatic plants and spend the whole daylight in water, immersed in liquid mud. From time immemorial, Indian buffalo has been domesticated and is widely used in countries with hot climates. On buffalo ride, plow, cultivate rice plantations. Big

buffalo milk is in demand. It contains 2-3 times more fat than cow. The African buffalo is the most powerful of the bulls. They live in forests, mountains and, of course, in the savannahs. Like other buffaloes, they avoid appearing in areas of cultivated land, therefore they are preserved in large numbers only in nature reserves. Buffaloes are kept in small groups, and in the dry season they are combined into large herds. These animals are quick on foot. The avalanche of galloping buffalos is impressive. They are fierce, and hunting them is fraught with considerable danger. It is a pity that we will never again see the thousandth herds of African buffaloes rushing in a cloud of dust raised by them across the boundless savannah!

HOME SHEEP

At the end of the Stone Age - 6-8 thousand years BC. e. somewhere in Asia Minor, people domesticated mountain sheep. Scientists do not yet know what kind of ram this was, tamed and domesticated by man - a mouflon or argali. After several decades of sheep, the Europeans also domesticated. Since then, people have worked to improve the source material and created more than 150 breeds. As a result of the impact of pastoralists, the appearance of the sheep and their behavior have changed. Herd instinct is more pronounced in domestic sheep than in their distant ancestors. Try to divide the flock into two parts. This task is practically impossible. Only from animals with such a pronounced herd instinct can large flocks be formed and 2-3 shepherds manage at the same time.

Sheep gives people milk, meat and fat, wool, sheepskin and smushka. The most valuable thing is wool. It has significant strength, extensibility, hygroscopicity and is indispensable in the manufacture of fabrics.

Sheep in the form of a tail are divided into 4 groups. Short-tailed are the Romanovsk sheep that are widespread in our country. The skins of these sheep go to sheepskin coats.

Long-tailed sheep are both meat breeds and merino, giving up to 10 kg of wool per year. They were used to create many fine-fleeced sheep breeds. Fabrics can be made of coarse hair and fluff, but 5-6 thousand years ago clothing from thin woolen fabrics won the liking of fashionable women in Babylon and Egypt. This stimulated the creation of appropriate sheep breeds.

Fat-tailed sheep include, in particular, Karakul sheep bred in Uzbekistan. These are unpretentious animals that can live in the desert and manage with scarce feed. Karakul (Kara Gul) in translation into Russian means "black rose". However, their fur can be black and white. These sheep give a lot of milk, and their meat is excellent.

Finally, the fat tail sheep. Kurdyuk - fat deposition in the form of large bags on the sides of the tail. It can contain up to 16 kg of fat. It is curious that none of the wild sheep has a fat tail.

Meat and fat are important products, but the main value of sheep is their coat. It was she who once glorified Georgia to the whole world, and made England a rich country. It is not without reason that in Georgia comparatively recently a sheep was worshiped, and the head of one of the chambers of the English parliament, presiding at its meetings, still traditionally sits on a sack of sheep’s wool.

BISON

In Europe, only one species of wild bulls now lives - bison. These are the largest of the existing bulls. The body length of these forest giants is up to 3.5 m, the height at the withers is up to 195 cm, and the weight is up to 1200 kg.

Once bison lived throughout Europe and were considered the most attractive hunting object, and therefore everywhere mercilessly destroyed and pushed into the most remote corners of the continent. As a result, the last European bison died in Belovezhskaya Pushcha at the hands of a hunter in 1921, while the Caucasian bison survived it for only 2 years. There are no more wild bison left in nature. But a miracle happened. Due to the fact that 56 animals were kept in zoos in different countries, it was possible to begin work on the restoration of bison. Now there is no need to worry about them, but they all without exception live in nature reserves, that is, in protected areas. In winter, they are fed with hay at the rate of 8 kg per day per adult bull.

Bison graze in the morning and in the evening, and the rest of the day rest, lying in secluded places, and chewing. In summer, bison live in small family groups, and in winter gather in herds. These are fearful animals. Smelling a person, the bison leave, but they are curious, and if the breeze pulls away from them, and the blind eyes do not allow to determine who disturbed their peace, the bison, having formed a half ring, peer anxiously at the person. Inexperienced tourists perceive this behavior as preparation for an attack, but it is worth the herd to guess that in front of him is a person, and animals hide in the thicket of the forest. In Belovezhskaya Pushcha, where most of the purebred bison live now, there were no cases of attacks on humans.

BUFFALO

The bison is a close relative of the bison. He looks like him. At the beginning of the 18th century, when Europeans intensively settled North America, about 60 million bison lived on its expanses - more than people! The bison then were perhaps the most numerous ungulates on Earth. Countless, like locusts, herds of bison trampled the land of prairies and forests from northern Mexico to the Great Slave Lake in Canada. More than one third of North America was occupied by the territory they inhabited.

The bison trails stretched across the continent. Along them mostly laid the first American railways. They brought death to the bison. In the 60s. XIX century construction of the transcontinental Pacific Railroad from Chicago to San Francisco began. The railway companies kept in service detachments of professional hunters who supplied them with tons of free meat.

At that time, William Cody, known as Buffalo Bill, who gained 4280 bison in a year and a half, became famous all over the world. Once in a day, he shot 69 bulls.

Often, buffalo were killed only to cut a small piece of meat for roast from the carcass of the bull for breakfast. Sometimes only tongues were cut out, leaving hundreds of bull corpses to rot in the steppe. By the beginning of the XIX century. no free bison left in the USA.

The initiative to save the bison belongs to the Indians, whom for centuries these animals not only fed and dressed, but also delivered to them almost everything they need in their modest everyday life: tendons for bows, skins for beds; Indians made goblets and spoons from bull horns, shoes, roofs and walls of their dwellings made of leather.

In 1873, an Indian named Wandering Coyote caught two young bison - a bull and a heifer. He looked after them, hid from gangs of hungry tramps. After 23 years in the herd of Coyote was already 300 bison. At the beginning of the XX century. the herd was bought by the US government, the animals were moved to Yellowstone National Park.

Now there are more than 20 thousand bison around the world. Undoubtedly, extinction is no longer threatening the bison family. He is saved!

Bison live in small herds, females - separately from males. They are fast and agile, capable of racing at a speed of 50 km / h.

When the calf is to be born, the mother does not leave the herd, and all its members joyfully greet the newborn, sniffing it and licking it. The kid quickly rises to his feet and is ready to follow his mother.

Pigs

The pig family unites only 8 species of animals. They all resemble a domestic pig in their body shapes. They have a massive trunk and short legs with four toes equipped with hooves. The muzzle is adorned with fangs sticking out, which grow throughout life.

Pigs are omnivores. For ungulates, vegetarians, this is very unusual. However, pigs with their rather simple stomach, unable to chew food consumed many times, as ruminants do not have the ability to grow in the digestive tract host of microorganisms, then use the protein substances of their bodies, are not able to exist on some coarse plant foods and constantly need in protein supplement. Involuntarily, they have to supplement the plant menu with worms, insects, mollusks, as well as larger animals, if it gets on their teeth. They receive this part of the feed by digging in the ground and forest litter.

Of the pigs, wild boar is the most famous. His fangs grow in males up to 10-12 cm, and the body is covered with brown elastic bristles, which puffs on the back, imitating a mane. Wild boars live settled and keep in small groups, uniting in winter into larger herds. On the site they occupied, they dug lezhki, covered with rags, where animals rest, and there are also baths - pits filled with water and liquid mud. Wild boars love moist, wetlands.

Boars dig most of the feed in the ground. In addition to animals living in the soil, they eat roots and rhizomes, tubers and bulbs. Of great help is the carrion fruit trees, acorns, all kinds of nuts, including pine nuts.

Females bring from 4 to 12 piglets. For children, a warmed den with thick walls and a good bedding, most often having a roof, is equipped. Piglets spend the first two weeks of their lives in the den. When leaving to feed, the mother covers them with bedding. Small striped boars are lying close to each other, waiting for the return of their nurse. Every 3-4 hours, the mother returns to the den and feeds the children. Later, they begin to accompany her and learn to eat pasture.

Winter is the most difficult time of the year. It is not easy to find food under the snow, and when there is a lot of snow, it becomes difficult even for boars with their short legs to walk. But the worst thing is the crust, you’ll grasp your legs about it and you won’t get any food from under it.

Where there are not very many wild boars, animals bring tangible benefits to the forest. Pigs loosen the soil, planting seeds in the soil, and destroy many insect pests, such as larvae of the May beetle and pupae of the pine moth. However, making forays into fields and gardens, climbing in winter in haystacks left on hayfields, they can also bring significant harm. Boars have few enemies, but serious enemies. First of all, these are wolves, and in the Far East, and a tiger. The wild boar is the ancestor of domestic pigs. It was domesticated at the end of the Stone Age and in ancient Egypt was already considered a common breeding site.

In Africa, 3 species of wild pigs live. The smallest of them are warthogs, named so because their muzzle is strewn with huge skin warts, which turn into solid cones in old males. The average length of their fangs is 30 cm, but they can grow up to almost 70 cm.

Warthogs live throughout Africa. Spacious holes with several cameras, which they dig themselves or occupy ready-made ones, are used as a refuge. Escaping from enemies, tails raise high. Piglets are the first to hide in the hole, and the females back back into it, locking the entrance with their impressive head. The males do the same.

The female brings 3-4 cubs, taking a separate chamber with them in the hole. There is no bedding, but it is dry and warm, and the pigs will not freeze. The mother leaves the children for the whole day, and returns to the night and feeds them only once. After a week, the piglets begin to crawl out of the hole and accompany the mother to the pasture. The family lasts up to a year until the female feels that she will have new children.

Warthogs are diurnal animals. Among pigs they are the most strict vegetarians and feed mainly on grass. They pluck the grass, kneeling down, and in such an unusual position they move along the pasture, since they have thick corns on their wrists that protect their legs from injuries. In captivity, these are funny creatures. A couple of animals from the St. Petersburg Zoo dozed for hours, waiting patiently for visitors to leave them alone, and in the evening started a fun game. They arranged catch-ups, jumped one on top of the other or flopped against each other on their knees, peering at their partner’s face for a long time, to suddenly break loose and burrow headlong into a pile of hay. And all this fuss passed in complete silence, not broken even by the stamping of feet on the floor strewn with sawdust.

Pistachio pigs are very impressive, brightly colored animals. Unlike their closest relatives of warthogs, racehorse pigs are staunch predators. Short, no longer than 15 cm, but sharp fangs help them easily deal with any prey. They willingly eat carrion, during calving they attack newborn ungulates, have a fierce hatred of dogs and mercilessly kill them. In zoos, in order for animals to feel normal, they have to feed mainly meat and fish. Fistula pigs are cautious nocturnal animals. They lead flocks and do not use permanent day shelters. Only females, when they have children, keep them in a hole for some time. Pistachio pigs are everywhere chased, because they often go out into the fields and commit outrage there. A herd of 30-40 goals can cause significant damage to crops. However, it is not possible to significantly reduce the number of pigs. Previously, the growth of their stock was held back by leopards, but now they are exterminated in many parts of Africa.

The giant forest pig is the largest pig. Its size can be judged even by the fact that the piglet of this pig in diameter reaches 16 centimeters! They live in dense impassable African forests, in such wilds, which Europeans rarely fall into, therefore, scientists only found out about their existence at the beginning of our century.

The smallest hare-sized pigs - dwarf - live in the foothills of the Himalayas. They live in herds of 5-20 heads: one male, females and their children. Dwarf pigs are the most warlike of pigs. Defending his family from enemies, the male without hesitation attacks any enemy. Intensive hunting of pigs for the sake of delicious meat and the development of the original habitats of dwarfs led to their extermination. In the mid-70s, zoologists

believed that they were no more than 100-150 goals. How long has survived to this day is unknown.

A bearded pig should rather be called a whisker, because there is no real beard, in our understanding of the word. Light bristles grow on the sides of the head from the corners of the mouth to the ears. Growth bearded with European boar. They live on the Malacca Peninsula and on the islands of Kalimantan, Sumatra, Java. This is the only pig that is inclined to lead a nomadic lifestyle, however, only pigs from Kalimantan show a taste for annual migrations. In the spring, these wanderings are especially widespread. Animals go in separate small herds, but adhere to a strictly defined route, as a result, a huge number of pigs pass through it in a short period of time. Dayaks, the natives of Kalimantan, during this period have long hunted them, killing animals with spears in the water when they crossed many rivers. With the advent of firearms on the island, hunting has become easier and lighter.

Bearders live in small family groups. Like all pigs, they are omnivores, and fruits occupy a serious place in their diet. But since they do not grow on the earth, and pigs are not able to climb trees, bearded families accompany the gibbons and herds of macaques wandering in the crowns of trees. Monkeys, as you know, are fastidious creatures and, once biting a pink-cheeked fruit once, they throw it on the ground in order to immediately try another one. Naturalists say that monkeys are often amused by throwing specially picked fruits in pigs and watching their behavior with interest.

In families of bearded pigs, up to 8 piglets are born. Mother builds them a house in advance from branches, grass and large palm leaves. It turns out an impressive nest a meter high, where in warmth and comfort, the kids spend the first 10-20 days of their life.

Babirussa is the most interesting of the pigs. She is not at all like an ordinary pig. She has a small head, short ears, a tiny patch, a curved back and long slender legs. The most memorable in her appearance is two pairs of large fangs, bent back and designed for decoration. The lower pair takes its usual place between the teeth of the lower jaw. The upper one does not grow out of the mouth, but sticks out right on the face. In older males, their tips reach the forehead or bend 180 ° and grow back into the skin of the snout. In length, they reach 40 cm. Females do not have upper canines, but the lower ones have a decent size. This amazing pig, feeding almost exclusively on leaves, green shoots and grass, lives only in mangroves, in tropical rain forests and reed beds of Sulawesi island. Her digestive system copes with its task only because it has acquired the features inherent in typical ruminants. Babirussa has the same complex stomach as theirs, where fiber is successfully digested with the help of small “cooks” - special microorganisms. Babirussa is a hermit. Animals do not like to gather in large herds and often wander in the jungle all alone or in extreme cases, small families. In the Sunda language, they are called “deer pigs” - there is so much in common in the diet of these animals.

A pig with the manners of a real herbivore creature, capable of dispensing with tubers, grain additives, oilcake and animal feed, would be indispensable in our farm. And this is not the only virtue of Babirussa. Her meat has an excellent taste and not very fatty. In addition, pigs themselves are not susceptible to many infectious diseases that are dangerous for farm animals, are not afraid of heat, easily tolerate high humidity, swim well, are able to harvest aquatic plants and generally live on pasture, but never dig in the ground, which is important for pasture conservation.

Alas, babirussa has a significant drawback. Her mammary glands have only two nipples, and she cannot feed more than two piglets. It is difficult to breed infertile animals, although no one would refuse such a piglet. Sulawesi hunters never kill babies. They are brought to the village and kept together with other farm animals. Babirusyats quickly become tame and do not deliver trouble to their owners.

  (Bovidae) **

* * The family of bovids, or bovines, is the most extensive and diverse group of artiodactyls, includes 45-50 modern genera and about 130 species.

  Born animals make up a natural, clearly defined group. No matter how close the deer to the gentle, however, they differ from them in the structure and development of horns, which tend to fall off annually, grow back and branch more and more. “Gentle,” says Blasius, “have cone-shaped sharpened bone growths on the forehead that are surrounded by a horn case; these bone growths grow constantly in length and at the base and in width. With growth on this bone stump new horny layers are constantly formed, for which the old layers serve as a case, and in hollow horns a new horn mass separates the old layers of the horns from the bone growth, but these old layers do not fall off like deer, because the conical shape of the surface of the old horn layers prevents this. horns are visible in undulating grooves. The horny substance does not grow the same year. The annual growth also varies, depending on age; the older the animal, the smaller the annual growth "***.

* * * Due to the seasonal uneven growth on the horns of some artiodactyls, "annual rings" are visible, allowing you to know the age of the animal.

  Other features of this family can be the dental system: all animals belonging to bovids have six incisors and two canines only on the lower jaw; there are no front teeth on the upper jaw; on each side of the jaw up and down we find six molars. The zygomatic arch is very dense.
  In addition to the dental system and horns, it is difficult to find common signs that are common to all gentle. The structure of their body is very diverse, this family includes both thick and massive animals, and light and graceful. The shape of the horns and hooves, the length of the tail, hairline and color are very different; lacrimal dimples sometimes occur, sometimes not; the tip of the muzzle is covered with hair or naked - in a word, upon closer inspection of these animals you notice many distinctive signs *.

* Unlike deer, canopies never have upper canines, molars have a higher crown and a more complex chewing surface. The number of fingers is sometimes reduced to two.

The bovine lifestyle is as varied as its appearance. They are distributed throughout the land, with the exception of South America and Australia **; Many species are found in all zones of the globe and in the most diverse areas: in waterless deserts and in vegetation-rich tropical forests, in marshy plains and in high mountains.

* * Being numerous and diverse in Africa and Eurasia, bisexuals in a limited number penetrated into North America only in the Pleistocene, overcoming the Bering land. Now there are only 5-6 species from 4 genera (subfamilies Caprinae and Bovinae). Slight-handed South America and Australia did not reach, as well as many islands, archipelagos. In Russia, 12 wild species of bovids from 8 genera.

  Most live in herds. Almost everyone has well-developed spiritual abilities. Many species are quick-witted, but some, by contrast, are very stupid by nature. They breed quite quickly, although the female at one time brings one cub, at least two, as an exception - three and only in rare cases - four. Young animals do not differ from other ruminants in growth and development. They are born developed and for the most part, after a few hours after birth, they can follow their parents to the most dangerous places. In many species, growth lasts several years, but in most young ones, after a year, they themselves are capable of breeding, and this explains the rapid increase in the number of individuals in individual herds of ruminants.
  Bovids are more important to humans than all other ruminants. Between them, man chose the most necessary domestic animals; from them we receive a significant portion of food and material for clothing; without them, it would be impossible for a person to live today. Even wild, enjoying unlimited freedom species of this family do much more than harm. Almost all, without exception, deliver us delicious meat, skin, wool and horns. All wild living bovids are considered hunting animals. In addition to humans, these animals have other enemies, but even more often than from violent death, they die from hunger and various diseases that are very common in them.
Bulls are large, strong and awkward ruminants, the signs of which are mainly more or less round and smooth horns, a wide muzzle with nostrils far apart from each other, a long tail reaching the heel joint, with a brush at the end, and the absence of lacrimal fossae and inter-experimental glands; females have an udder with four nipples. Most have saggy undercuts or a fold of skin on the top of the neck. The skeleton consists of an ulcer of very coarse and thick bones. The skull is wide at the forehead and slightly narrowed towards the muzzle; round eye hollows located on the sides of the skull far from one another; the frontal processes on which the horns sit extend on the sides of the back of the frontal bone. The arrangement of the teeth is nothing special. On each jaw, the internal incisors are the largest, the front ones are usually small, while the rear ones are very developed. The horns at the root expand and therefore can cover almost the entire forehead, but most leave it open. The horns are smooth, rounded and only at the base have transverse wrinkles; bend differently: outward or inward, backward or forward, upward or downward, or have a lyre shape. The hairline is short and smoothly adheres to the skin, but on some parts of the body it can lengthen in the form of a mane.
  The birthplace of the bulls should be considered all of Europe and Africa, Central and South Asia, as well as North America; currently domesticated species are common in all parts of the globe. In the wild, bulls inhabit a wide variety of terrain; some live in dense forests, others among the free steppes, some on the plains, others in the mountains, where they reach heights of up to 6000 m. Some species prefer marshy areas and swamps, others prefer drier places. Those living in the mountains descend into the valleys in winter; those living in the north move south; in other areas, they move from one place to another, more rich in vegetation. All species without exception live in societies and gather in herds led by strong and experienced animals. Old males usually separate and live as hermits.
Although the bulls seem clumsy and unstable, they are able to move quickly and show much more dexterity than might be supposed. Usually they move at a slow pace, but trot and sometimes go into an extremely awkward gallop, accelerating their movement to a large extent. Views living in the mountains climb masterfully. All bulls swim easily and well, some without fear cross over the widest rivers. They have extraordinary power, and their endurance is worthy of surprise. Of the senses, the highest sense of smell is developed, hearing is also good, and vision is not particularly strong. The wild ones reveal much more ingenuity than the domestic ones, which do not need to exert their mental strength. They are meek and gullible to animals that are not dangerous to them and they are not bored. But they are extremely ferocious, stubborn and extremely courageous. Irritated, they rush, despising death, at predatory animals, even at the strongest, and with such dexterity are able to use their terrible weapons - horns and hooves, which often remain winners. In general, peace-loving with each other, in certain periods, especially in the period of incidents, they engage in battles, showing great ferocity. Their voice represents a clear or muffled moo or resembles grunts and grunts, which are heard mainly when they are excited.
  Bull food is made up of plants. They eat leaves and tender buds, shoots and branches of a wide variety of trees, grasses and cereals, tree bark, mosses and lichens, marsh and water plants, even sharp cutting sedge and reed plants. In captivity, they also feed on plant matter. Salt serves everyone as a treat; water is an urgent need; many enjoy wallowing in muddy swamps or lie for hours in rivers and ponds.
  The case is preceded by fierce battles between bulls; 9-12 months later, a cow calves with one calf, very rarely with two. The calf is born fully developed and almost immediately able to follow the mother. She treats him with great tenderness, feeds and cleanses, licks and caresses him, and in case of danger protects against any attack with great courage; in some species, males also protect cubs.
  All types of bulls can be tamed and obey, more or less willingly, humans, get used to their owners, love and recognize them, go to their call and obey even a weak child.
Hunting wild bulls is one of the most dangerous. A particularly formidable adversary is an annoyed bull whose blind fury knows no bounds. But precisely because of the danger of hunting, this seems attractive to many; some peoples value it especially highly. Hunting wild bulls brings considerable income, people use not only their skin, but also meat, which, despite the often inherent musky smell, serves as excellent food.
  Bulls living in a wild state harm humans, except by gnawing trees and bushes in the forests, destroying grasses in meadows and various plantations on plantations; tamed, on the contrary, benefit from their strength, meat and bones, skin and horns, milk, wool and even dung. In the west of Russia is a kind of treasure. This is the famous Belovezhskaya Pushcha, a true northern primeval forest with a space of 2000 square kilometers. It is located separately and, like an island, is surrounded by fields, villages and moorlands. There is only one village in the forest, called the same as the forest, but not populated by farmers, but by foresters and rangers. About four fifths of the forest area is made up of pine trees, which maintain exclusive dominance over a wide area. In more damp places spruce, oak, linden, hornbeam, birch, alder, poplar and willow trees appear. B. the greatest European mammal lives in this forest - bison   (Bison bonasus). Only here and in some forests of the Caucasus, as well as in Metseritsy in Silesia, is this powerful animal preserved today; on the entire remaining surface of the earth it has already been destroyed. In Belovezhskaya Pushcha, strict laws protect him and, if for many centuries the changing owners of this amazing menagerie did not provide such protection to the bison, then by our time the bison could only be found in the Caucasus.
In earlier times, of course, it was different; it can be proven that bison was distributed throughout Europe and a large part of Asia. During the prosperity of ancient Greece, he often came across in today's Bulgaria; in central Europe it was found almost everywhere. Aristotle calls him "bonassus" and makes an accurate description, Pliny brings him under the name "bison" and considers Germany his motherland. Ancient written monuments mention him in the VI and VII centuries after Christ, and the Song of the Nibelungs says that he lives in the Vosges. During the time of Charles the Great, the bison was found in Harz and Saxony, around 1000, according to Ekkehard, this wild animal came across at St. Gallen. About 1373, he lived in Pomerania, in the 15th century in Prussia, in the 16th century in Lithuania, in the 18th century in eastern Prussia, where in 1755 the last representative of this species was killed by a poacher.
  The kings and magnates of the Commonwealth zealously engaged in the protection of bison. They were kept in special gardens and parks, for example, near Ostroleka, Warsaw and Zamoysk. The increasing population and cultivation of the fields made such protection impossible over time; bison stayed for some time in Prussian Lithuania, where foresters guarded them, setting up open sheds with food in winter. Then they were usually caught for gifts to foreign yards. So, in 1717, two bison were delivered to the Landgrave of Hesse-Kasselsky, the same as the English King George. The widespread cattle plague at the beginning of the 18th century destroyed most of these herds. There is no doubt that the bison living in Belovezhskaya Pushcha would have suffered the same fate if the Polish kings and then the Russian emperors did not guard the animal rare in the modern world.
  According to information that came to me through the late Count Lazar, the bison lived longer than in Prussia in Hungary, in wooded Transylvania. This is also indicated by the fact that the names of some mountains, streams and even villages contain the word "bison". In the Turech Chronicle, which was printed under King Matthew I, there are richly decorated initial letters, on one of these ornaments we see the Hungarian king on horseback, with a crown on his head; he swings his high-spear at the furiously racing bison. During the times of the Transylvanian princes, the bison was often found there, and it is fully confirmed that in the XVII century its skin was used on different products. As proved, in 1729 he lived in the mountain forests of Hungary and at the end of the last century he met in the mountain forests of Seckler, not far from the Füle * locality.

* The bison range in the Middle Beks covered Central and Eastern Europe from Germany and Hungary to the Don and the Caucasus. The longest wild bison were preserved in the Caucasus and in the area of \u200b\u200bBelovezhskaya Pushcha. By the 20s of the 20th century, it disappeared from nature. 45 heads of the nominative subspecies survived in zoos, mainly in Poland. As a result of restoration work in captivity (including absorption crossing with a bison), the bison were saved as a species and returned to some places of their former habitats in the reserves of Poland and the former USSR. In the suburbs there is a nursery at the Prioksko-Terrasny Reserve, groups of bison are re-acclimatized in the Caucasus, in the Carpathians, brought to the Tien Shan. Now in the world there are about 1.5 thousand animals.

  Although it is safe to admit that the bison has decreased in growth, it is still a powerful animal. The bison, killed in Prussia in 1555, was 7 feet high and 13 feet long, while weighing 19 centners and 5 pounds. Currently, the largest bison rarely reaches a height of 1.7 m, a length of 3.4 m, and a mass of 500-700 kg *.

* The height of the bulls at the withers is up to 2 m; the mass is up to 850 kg. Cows can be half lighter.

The bison seems to us a model of primitive strength and power. His head is moderately large and not only awkward, but rather slim, his forehead is high and very wide, the nose is slightly curved, the front part is evenly narrowed towards the end. The muzzle is wide and ugly; it occupies the entire space between the large, round, oblique nostrils; the ears are short and rounded, the eyes are rather small, the edges of the eye cavities protrude above the cheeks; a very strong, short and raised neck forms the breast. On strong, but not short legs, equipped with large oval hooves and rather small callused fingers, a massive body rests: the back rises significantly from the back of the head to the middle, from where it falls to the sacrum; the tail is short and thick. The horns are far apart, not too thick, round and sharp; they bend slightly forward, then inward and backward. The body is covered with thick fur, consisting of long, for the most part curled hair, awn and undercoat knocked down like felt. This fur lengthens at the back of the head into a wide bang, consisting of smooth hair and falling to the forehead and temples; on the back, hair forms a high comb, on the chin a long and rather thin beard hangs down. A large mane covers the neck and undercuts. The whole face is covered with thick hair; the auricles on the edges are shaggy; at the end of the tail, a wide and long hand, descending almost to the heel joint. The general color of the fur is light brown, the beard and tail brush are black, the legs are dark brown, the fringe is light brown. The physique of a cow is noticeably smaller and thinner than a bull, its horns are weaker, its mane is less developed; the color, however, is the same. Just born calf with a lighter color **.

* * The bison differs from the bison in a larger size. but at the same time a lighter physique. He has a not so big head, set much higher, longer and thinner horns, a curved profile of the back, the back of the body is more developed. The legs are noticeably higher, the tail is longer. The coat is more even in length and plain brown. Branches and leaves play a greater role in the diet (more than 200 plants consume bison in total).

Until recently, the question: did the wild bull living in the Caucasus Mountains belong to the same species as the bison remained unresolved. We have so far received little information about this animal. More than 200 years ago, Archangelo Lamberti only mentioned, although rumored, the existence of a "wild buffalo" on the border of Mingrelia. At the end of the last century, Guldenstedt found 14 bison skulls in a cave in the Caucasus. Eichwald at the beginning of our century collected news about the whereabouts of the remaining wild bulls. But only Baer could, on the basis of the skin sent to him in 1836 by Baron von Rosan, make sure that the Caucasian wild bull and bison belong to the same species. Since then, there have been many reports of a wild bull in the Caucasus. And in 1868 a young male bison was caught there and delivered to the Moscow Zoological Garden. Thus, it was established that our European wild bull - the bison - also has another location and can be considered insured against extermination, at least for the near future.
  Nordman, Tornau and Radda, meanwhile, provided further information on the existence and lifestyle of the Caucasian bison, as well as on the hunt for them. Nordman testified at the end of the thirties that the bison is no longer found near the mountain road from Taman to Tiflis, but that it is often found inside the mountain ranges of the Caucasus, its permanent habitat is at least 200 kilometers along the coast of the Kuban to the sources of Bzyby. Drawing on oral reports from Tornau, he talks about a Caucasian bison hunt in the Bolshoi Zelenchuk valley and notices that these animals are found not only on this river, but also in the rocky, abundant gorges of the Urup and Bolshaya Laba valleys, as well as in the coniferous forests of the Main ridge below the line of eternal snow. Radde informs Brandt, from whose work I borrowed the following news about bison, that back in 1865, bison huddled in vast pine forests west of the glacier Maruhi, which came across herds of 7-10 heads. Thornau, who lived for three years in the mountains as a captive among the mountaineers and was present when hunting bison, often saw the camp of these animals and paths laid by them even on the steepest cliffs in order to go from a rocky valley to a stream where you can quench your thirst. Once on Zelenchuk he heard a loud noise coming from the stomp of a herd of bison and breaking branches, and soon saw up to 20 cows and calves that followed a huge bull, importantly walking with his head bowed; all of them were heading to the usual watering hole *.

* The last bison of a special Caucasian subspecies (B. b. Caucasicus), characterized by very dark curly hair and some other features, were exterminated by poachers in 1925-1927 in the Teberda region. Now in Teberdi suit and other parks and reserves of the Caucasus live herds of bison, Bialowieza by origin, as well as bison. Settled on the plains, in the mountains, bison make vertical migrations, rising in the summer to 2000 m above sea level.

  The number of bison in the Bialowieza Forest, according to the census, reached 711 heads in 1829, of which 633 were old bulls, the next year the herd increased to 772 heads, but then decreased again to 657 due to the Polish rebellion in those years. In the future, the strengthening of conservation laws favored their reproduction so much that in 1857 the number of all bison living in Belovezhskaya Pushcha was 1898. But according to other sources, in 1863 there were only 874 bison in the herd, and since then their number has constantly fluctuated from 800 to 900 goals; according to Frieze, currently there are up to 1,500 bulls.
  In 1865, Prince von Plese made an attempt to settle bison in the Ples estate in Silesia, in a park with a space of more than 600 hectares. One bull and three cows were brought by rail from Bialowieza, which got along well and even multiplied in a new place. Later, in 1871, the animals were transferred to the Metsertsitsa forest. According to Frieze, in 1889 there were already 11 bison, although during this time nine bulls were shot.
  In summer and autumn, the bison lives in the damp places of the forest, usually hidden in thickets; in winter he prefers a drier and higher forest. Very old bulls live alone, younger bulls roam in small herds, in the summer at 16-20, and in the winter at 30-50 heads. Each herd has its own permanent camp and always returns to it.
Bison are active day and night, grazing most readily in the morning and evening, sometimes even at night. Their food is made up of various herbs, leaves, buds and tree bark: as far as they can, gnaw the bark from the trees and bend young flexible trunks to the ground to get the crown, which they completely destroy. Their favorite tree seems to be ash, the lush bark of which they prefer to all others; conifers, in contrast, do not touch. In winter, they eat almost exclusively bark and branches of deciduous trees available to them, in addition, lichens and dry grass. In Belovezhskaya Pushcha, hay cut in the meadows is stored in haystacks for them; but they, not content with this, raid the stacks of neighboring villages, breaking the hedges. They need fresh water for drinking.
  At first glance, the movements of the bison seem heavy and clumsy, but looking closely, you can see that they are quite agile.
  The bison walk at a brisk pace, run with a heavy but fast gallop, and they lower their heads to the ground, and lift their tail up and pull them *.

* Bison can jump up to 3 m in length and up to 2 m in height.

  They easily ford or cross swamps and rivers. Between external feelings, the first place is taken by the sense of smell; vision and hearing are less developed, and taste and touch are only mediocre. The nature of bison changes over the years. Young animals are fun, lively, playful creatures; although they are not very gentle and peaceful, but still not evil. The old, on the contrary, have a gloomy, even fierce disposition; they become irritable and not inclined to any games. Although bison usually does not touch people who do not bother them, the slightest reason can arouse anger in them and make them extremely dangerous. In the summer, they try to avoid a man, in the winter they give way to no one, and it happened more than once that the peasants had to wait a long time until the bison decided to leave the path occupied by it, on which no one could pass. Wildness, stubbornness and temper are the hallmarks of these bulls. The younger are more timid and timid than the old. Old beasts living in hermits can become the true scourge of the country. They seem to take particular pleasure in teasing people. One old bull leader for some time took possession of the road passing through the Bialowieza Forest, overturned the crews more than once and caused many other misfortunes. Horses show fear and horror in front of the bison and, sensing it, try to run away.
The period of rumors, usually occurring in August, and sometimes only in September, lasts two or three weeks. Around this time, bison are in the best condition, obese and strong. Before mating, they play with peculiar games, and there are serious battles between bulls. It seems to the rabid animal of love that it gives special pleasure to tear out not very thick trees from the ground and to knock them down. Then they begin to fight, at first, perhaps only by joking, then more seriously and seriously, finally they rush at each other furiously and clash their horns in such a way that one can only wonder how both will not break themselves from such a strong blow. Little by little the hermits gather in herds, and the fights are now even worse, the younger and weaker bull must either retreat or die. In 1827, a three-year-old bull was found in the Bialowieza Forest with a fragmented leg and a horn beaten off at the root. Not only bulls were found dead at this time, but also cows *.

* During the rutting at the bull there is a "harem" of 2-6 females.

  Immediately after the end of the mating period, the old bulls again separate from the herd and return to their former quiet, hermit life. Cows calve nine months after mating, usually in May or early June. Before this, they retire, find a convenient place somewhere in the depths of the forest and hide here with a calf for several days. In case of danger, with extraordinary courage, they defend their brainchild. The calf presses itself to the ground, raises its ears and tosses them, opens its nostrils and eyes wide and fearfully looks at the enemy, towards which the mother hurries. Then it is dangerous for both man and beast to approach the female bison - it bravely goes against any enemy. Within a few days after birth, the calf follows the mother, who treats him with extraordinary tenderness. While he still does not know how to walk properly, she gently nudges him forward with her head and tries to protect him from the cold and danger, placing him between her front legs; every day he licks him clean; during feeding, stands on three legs, so that it is more convenient for the calf to get an udder, and while he sleeps, protects his safety. Calves are premium, graceful animals, although from a youth they have shown the inclinations of character. They develop very slowly and achieve full growth, probably only by the eighth or ninth year **.

* * The weight of the newborn is about 22 kg, lactation lasts 5-6 months (sometimes up to a year), but the calf begins to eat grass already from 2-3 weeks. Sometimes the calf stays with the mother for up to 2 years, despite the fact that under favorable conditions the female will bring new offspring next spring. Puberty occurs in 1.5-2 years, but the animals reach their final sizes by 5-8 years. Maximum life expectancy is about 40 years.

  The age at which bison can live is approximately 30-50 years old. Cows die 10 years earlier than the bulls, but even the latter usually go blind or lose their teeth in old age, then they are no longer able to eat properly, can not bite young branches, quickly weaken and finally become ringed.
  Compared to other bulls, bison breed slowly. In Belovezhskaya Pushcha they observed and found out that cows are pregnant once every three years, and at a more mature age they remain barren for several years in a row. In 1829, out of 258 cows, only 93 were hotels; of the rest, the majority were already barren, while others were still too young.
  These powerful animals are excellently protected from enemies. Bears and wolves can be dangerous only to calves, and then if for some reason the mother is not alive and the cub is defenseless. However, it happens when deep snow falls, hungry wolves drive adult bison to exhaustion and finally overcome them.
  Even in the time of Julius Caesar, a hunter who killed one round or a bison gained great fame; all ancient songs praise such heroes. In the Middle Ages, knights and barons valiantly fought with bison and tours. Some hunted on horseback, others on foot, but always chose spears as weapons of attack. We went out to the beast together: one approached the frantic beast, the other screamed and waving a red scarf tried to distract the bison from the attacker and draw him to him; at this time the first spear was thrust into the body of the animal. Simple hunters, in order to take possession of a powerful animal, erected a deep hole on its path and killed the bison that had sunk into it.
According to the legends that the history of Hungary and Transylvania is so rich in, hunting for bison was the most belligerent occupation of the Magyar knighthood and the nobility of neighboring countries. During the time of the first Hungarian kings, hunting became the exclusive right of the king or the sovereign prince. There are many posts on this subject. “In the same year (1534),” says one German manuscript, “wild bulls, known in Hungary under the name“ Begin ”or“ Beogin, ”who lived in herds in the Jurzewo Mountains in the country of Seckler, did a lot of harm and attacked men and "Women who went to the forest. Therefore, according to ancient custom, Moylar Istvan convened an old governor on a big hunt on the day of St. Fabian. Then there gathered a lot of gentlemen and nobles who hunted successfully and also had a decent meal." And after 100 years they hunted with the same splendor, as can be seen from the letter of George Rakochi I, Prince of Transylvania to Pavel Bornemisser in 1643.
  In Belovezhskaya Pushcha, sovereign persons of past centuries appeared with a large retinue, called foresters and forced the surrounding peasants to go to the beaters. A detachment of 200-300 people had to drive the bison to the place where hunters stood on a safe platform. The six-meter pyramid of white sandstone with an inscription in German and Polish also testifies to one brilliant hunt arranged by the Polish king Augustus III in 1752. 42 bisons, 13 moose and two roe deer were killed in one day; only one queen shot 20 bison without missing a single shot. On the eighteenth and nineteenth of October 1860, the Russian emperor staged a hunt: the sovereign himself shot six bison bulls and one calf, two moose and six fallow deer, three roe deer, four wolves, one badger, one fox and one hare. The Grand Duke of Weimar and the Princes Karl and Albrecht of Prussia killed eight more bison. This hunt was described in detail in a special essay in Russian.
D. V. Dolmatov, the main forester of the state forests of the Grodno province, tells how these animals were caught. The emperor promised Queen Victoria two bison for a menagerie and therefore ordered several heads to be caught. That was in July. At dawn, 300 beaters and 80 hunters gathered with rifles loaded with one gunpowder, and surrounded a tracked herd. Dolmatov and his companion, Count Kiselev, who brought the royal order, saw a herd that was located on a hill. The calves jumped cheerfully, tossing sand high with nimble feet, from time to time returned to their mothers, rubbed against them, licked, and then again jumped cheerfully. Suddenly, the sound of a horn interrupted this idyll. In fear, the herd jumped up, the calves shyly pressed against their mothers. When the dogs barked, the herd hastily gathered in the usual manner: the calves were in front, and the adults formed a rearguard, protecting them from the attack of the dogs. Old bison broke through the chain of beaters and rushed on, not paying attention to people, screams and shots. I was fortunate enough to catch two young bison: a calf was mastered about three months old without much difficulty; another, about fifteen months old, threw eight people to the ground and fled, but, pursued by dogs, was caught in the garden of a forester. Four calves, one male and three females were caught later, one female was only a few days old.
  I saw bison in a menagerie in Schönbrunn. They lived for many years in one stable, in front of which was a courtyard, fenced with thick logs. Very strong oak pillars of the hedge, dug a meter into the ground and, in addition, reinforced with props, were fastened with crossbars. When I visited, the cow had a sucking calf, she expressed concern for him with all her behavior. To better see rare animals, I went closer to the hedge, when suddenly the cow lowered its head and rushed at me, mumbling and sticking out a long tongue, and threw its head at the beams with such force that even the oak poles trembled. Another creature would have crushed his skull with such a blow: the bison repeated his exercises three or four times in a row without any difficulty.
In our zoological gardens with favorable care, bison survive perfectly, mate and reproduce without difficulty even more than in freedom. According to the observations of Sheff, the period of pregnancy lasts 270-274 days. A mother treats her newborn extremely gently, unless a human hand touches him; she becomes furious and takes out on the defenseless calf any unsolicited touch of the overseer. The bull should be separated from the pregnant cow, since the family life of these animals is impossible in a cramped room. In Dresden, on May 22, 1865, a newly born calf was picked up by its parent in the horns and thrown over the fence; here he again rose to his feet and was brought into the stable by his mother, separated from the bull. The cow, sniffing her calf and probably noticing that human hands had already touched him, threw it up and trampled it to death. Many weeks before calving, the most meek bison cow becomes wild and vicious, and calving and starting to feed the calf, it behaves in most cases as I described above.
  To taste, bison meat is a cross between domestic bull meat and venison; meat of cows and calves is especially famous. The Poles considered the salted bison meat an excellent delicacy and used it for gifts to the courts of sovereigns. The skin gives a strong and strong, but soft and well-skinned skin, which is used for dressing belts and garments.
  Horns and hooves are credited with healing properties. Our ancestors made drinking vessels from beautiful strong horns. In the Caucasus, they are also now using them instead of cups. At the dinner, which one Caucasian prince honored General Rosan, instead of glasses, 50-70 bison horns were used, separated by silver.
  The same fate that the bison suffered over the centuries has befallen its only cousin - bison   (Bison bison) *, in an incredibly short time, one can say, in one decade.

* Bisons penetrated America from Eurasia during the ice age. Their different forms succeed each other in the tundra steppes, forests and prairies, some species were much larger than the modern steppe bison (Bison bison) in size; the scope of their long horns reached 2 meters or more. Despite the common American name (Buffalo), bison, like bison, are more like bulls than buffaloes.

Several decades ago, millions of these powerful animals roamed the vast expanses of North America; there are currently no more than a few hundred bison. History does not know, and henceforth, will not bring to its pages another example of such systematic destruction, such ruthless mass extermination for the insignificant benefit of harmless and useful animals. Moreover, the government did nothing to protect them. Now only whitening bones scattered across distant deserts point to the once countless herds of North American bison.

The number of surviving bison reached, according to William Gornedey, as of January 1, 1889, up to 835 heads, including those 200 bulls that live under government protection in Yellowstone Park. This extermination of bison began in the seventies when the railroads were held

•   - This is the largest family of artiodactyls in terms of the number of species and the variety of biological types: from tiny, almost hares, dikds to huge bulls, from light, slender ...

  Biological Encyclopedia

•   - taxonomic category in biol. taxonomy. S. unites close births having a common origin. The Latin name C. is formed by adding to the base of the name of the type genus of the ending – idae and –ceae ...

  Dictionary of Microbiology

•   - family - .One of the main categories in biological systematics unites genera having a common origin; also - a family, a small group of individuals connected by blood relationship and including parents and their offspring ...

  Molecular biology and genetics. Explanatory dictionary

•   - family, taxonomic category in the taxonomy of animals and plants ...

  Veterinary Encyclopedic Dictionary

•   - A highly productive group of breeding queens, descending from an outstanding ancestor and descendants similar to her in type and productivity ...