Saturday 3 December 2011

Mouflon


Mouflon

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  (Redirected from Mouflon sheep)
Mouflon
Mouflon in the Buffalo Zoo
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Mammalia
Order:Artiodactyla
Family:Bovidae
Subfamily:Caprinae
Genus:Ovis
Species:Ovis aries
Binomial name
Ovis aries
Linnaeus, 1758
Synonyms
O. orientalis
Ovis musimon
Ovis gmelini
The mouflon (Ovis aries orientalis[1] group) is a subspecies group of the wild sheep Ovis aries. Populations of Ovis aries can be partitioned into the mouflons (orientalis group) andurials or arkars (vignei group).[2] The mouflon is thought to be one of the two ancestors for all modern domestic sheep breeds.[3][4]

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[edit]Description

A European Mouflon male in the German forest
Mouflon have a red-brown short-haired coat with a dark back-stripe, light colored saddle patch . The males are horned; some females are horned while others lack horns. The horn is curved in almost one full revolution (up to 85 cm). Mouflon have a shoulder height of about 0.9 meters and a body weight of 50 kg (males) and 35 kg (females).[5]

[edit]Range

Mouflon Ram
Today mouflon inhabit the Caucasus, northern Iraq, and northwestern Iran. Originally the range stretched further to Anatolia, the Crimeanpeninsula and the Balkans, where they had already disappeared 3,000 years ago. Mouflon were introduced to the islands of CorsicaSardinia,Rhodes and Cyprus during the neolithic period, perhaps as feral domesticated animals, where they have naturalized in the mountainous interiors of these islands over the past few thousand years, giving rise to the subspecies known as European mouflon (O. aries musimon). In the island of Cyprus the moulfon or Agrino became a different and endemic species, which only found in Cyprus, the Cyprus moulfon (Ovis orientalis ophion). The Cyprus moulfon is about 3000 animals, only. They are now rare on the islands but classified as feral animals by the IUCN.[6] They were later successfully introduced into continental Europe, including SpainFranceGermany, central ItalySwitzerlandAustria, the Netherlands, the Czech RepublicPolandSlovakiaHungaryBulgariaRomania, the Canary Islands, and even some northern European countries such asSweden and Finland. A small colony exists in the remote Kerguelen Islands in the southern Indian Ocean, and on the Veliki Brijun Island in the Brijuni Archipelago of the Istrian Peninsula in Croatia. In South America mouflon have been introduced into central Chile and Argentina[7]. Since the 1980s, mouflon have also been successfully introduced into game ranches in North America for the purpose of hunting; however in game ranches pure breeds are rare as mouflon interbreed with domestic sheep and bighorn sheep.[citation needed] Mouflon have also been introduced into Hawaii as game animals, where they cause serious damage to native plant species and are more difficult to control than other alien ungulates.
Their habitat is steep mountainous woods near the tree line. In Winter they migrate to lower altitudes.[5]

[edit]Subspecies

Mouflon female
The scientific classification of the mouflon is disputed.[8] Five subspecies of mouflon are distinguished by MSW3:[2]
  • Armenian mouflon (Ovis orientalis gmelini (Blyth, 1851)). It has been introduced in Texas state of USA.
  • European mouflon (Ovis orientalis musimon (Pallas, 1811)). About 7,000 years ago the European mouflon appeared in Corsica and Sardinia for the first time. It has been introduced in many parts of Europe.
  • Cypriot mouflon (Ovis orientalis ophion Blyth, 1841) (also called Agrino, from Greek Αγρινό). Cypriot mouflon was nearly extirpated during the 20th century. In 1997 about 1,200 of this subspecies were counted.
  • Iranian Red sheep (Ovis orientalis orientalis Gmelin, 1774). Caucasus, northwestern Iran and southern Anatolia. Scientific nomenclature unclear; sometimes also called gmelini.
  • Esfahan mouflon (Ovis orientalis isphahanica Nasonov, 1910). Zagros Mountains, Iran.
  • Laristan mouflon (Ovis orientalis laristanica Nasonov, 1909). A small subspecies, with range is restricted to some desert reserves nearLar in southern Iran.
A mouflon was cloned successfully in early 2001 and lived at least seven months, making it the first clone of an endangered mammal to survive beyond infancy.[9][10][11] This demonstrates that a common species (in this case, a domestic sheep) can successfully provide a surrogate for the birth of an exotic animal like the mouflon. If cloning of the mouflon can proceed successfully, it has the potential to expand the species' gene pool and reduce strain on the number of living specimens.

[edit]Mouflon in culture

Thursday 25 August 2011

Chital


Chital

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  (Redirected from Spotted deer)
Chital
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Mammalia
Order:Artiodactyla
Family:Cervidae
Subfamily:Cervinae
Genus:Axis
Species:A. axis
Binomial name
Axis axis
(Erxleben, 1777)
Subspecies
Axis axis axis
Axis axis ceylonensis
Chital range
The chital or cheetal (Axis axis),[2] also known as chital deerspotted deer or axis deeris a deer which commonly inhabits wooded regions of Sri LankaNepalBangladeshBhutan,India, and in small numbers in Pakistan. The Chital goes by various names in India, among which include: Chital horin in Bengali, Thith Muwa in Sinhalese, Jinke in Kannada, Pulli Maanin Tamil and Malayalam, Duppi in Telugu, Phutuki Horin in Assamese, Haran/Harin in Marathi, and Hiran in Hindi/Urdu (the latter two derived from Harini, the Sanskrit cognate for 'deer'). It is the most common deer species in Indian forests. The name Chital comes from the Bengali word Chitral (চিত্রল)/Chitra (চিত্রা), which means "spotted". The chital ismonotypic within the genus Axis, but this genus has also included three species that now are placed in Hyelaphus based on genetic evidence.[3][4]

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[edit]Description

Drawing of skull
The chital's coat is pinkish fawn, marked with white spots, and its underparts are also white. Its antlers, which it sheds annually, are usually three-pronged and curve in a lyre shape and may extend to 75 cm (2.5 ft). Compared to the hog deer, its close relative, the chital has a more cursorial build. It also has a more advanced morphology with antler pedicles being proportionally short and its auditory bullae being smaller. It also has large nasals. It stands about 90 cm (3 ft) tall at the shoulder and masses about 85 kg (187 lb), although males tend to be larger than females. Its lifespan is around 8–14 years.
Chital have well-developed preorbital glands which have hairs that are like stiff little branches.[5] They also have well-developed metatarsal glands and pedal glands on their hind legs. Males have larger preorbital glands than females and are opened very often in response to certain stimuli.[6][7]

[edit]Range

The chital ranges over 8–30ºN in India and though Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka.[8] The western limt of its range is eastern Rajasthan and Gujarat. The northern limit is along the bhabar-terai belt of the foothills of the Himalaya and from Uttar Pradesh and Uttaranchal through to Nepal, northern West Bengal and Sikkim and then to western Assam and the forested valleys of Bhutan which are below 1,100 m asl.[1] The eastern limit of its ranges is through western Assam [9][10] to the Sunderbans of West Bengal (India) and Bangladesh.[1] Sri Lanka is the southern limit.[11] Chital occur sporadically in the forested areas throughout the rest of the Indian peninsula.[12] however it currently occurs only in the Sundarbans in in Bangladesh as it became extinct in the central, north-east and south-east regions.[1]

[edit]Ecology

The spotted deer is found in large numbers in dense deciduous or semi-evergreen forests and open grasslands.[11] The highest numbers of Chital are found in the forest of India where they feed upon tall grass and shrubs.[5] Chital have been also spotted in Phibsoo wildlife Sanctuary in Bhutan which is the only remaining natural Sal (Shorea robusta) forests in the country. They do not occur at higher elevation forests where they are usually replaced by other species such as the Sambar deer. They also prefer heavy forest cover for shade and are intolerant of direct sunlight.[5][11]
Chital at an evergreen area
Chitals drinking at a waterhole
Chital are primarily grazers and feed on short, sprouting grasses.[5][11] However they will also browse as well as eat forbs, fruit and branches of trees, especially when they are thrown down by monkeys.[5][11] Stags, more than hinds, will stand on their hind legs on feed on tree foliage.[5][11] Chital also eat their shed antlers as a source of nutrients and will use mineral licks.[5][11] Chital prefer to be near water and will drink mornings and evenings in hot weather. Predators of the chital include tigersAsiatic lions (in Gir Forest only), leopardsdholes and mugger crocodilesRed foxes also sometimes prey on chital fawns. Hinds and fawns are more likely to be victims of predation than adult stags[5] and dholes are more successful in catching stags than tigers and leopards.[5] The chital can run up to 40 mph (65 km/h) to escape his predators[13][14].
An interesting relationship has been observed between herds of axis deer and troops of the Northern Plains Gray Langur (Presbytis entellus), a widespread leaf-eating monkey taxon of South Asia. Axis deer apparently benefit from the langurs' good eyesight and ability to post a lookout in a treetop, helping to raise the alarm when a predator approaches.[11] For the langurs' part, the axis deer's superior sense of smell would seem to assist in early predator warning, and it is common to see langurs foraging on the ground in the presence of axis deer.[11] The axis deer also benefit from fruits dropped by the langurs from trees such as Terminalia bellerica and Phyllanthus emblica.[15] Alarm calls of either species can be indicative of the presence of a predator such as a tiger.[citation needed]

[edit]Social behavior and reproduction

Two Chital stags (one hard, one velvet)
Axis deer most commonly occur in herds of ten to fifty individuals of both sexes. Large dominant stags without velvet stay in the center of the herd and are surrounded by the females and their young.[5] Smaller stags with velvet occupy the boundaries of the herd. Chital stags pay close attention when a stag of equal size to them enters their group.[5] They will follow, graze with and display to the newcomer. Sparring is more common between young stags while older, larger stags prefer horning, pawing and marking.[5] Large stags with hard antlers are more likely to be well spaced out. Stags are known to stand on their hind legs and mark tree branches above.[5][11]
Chital hind nursing her fawn.
The chital has a protracted breeding season due in part to the tropical climate, and births can occur throughout the year. For this reason, males do not have their antler cycles in synchrony and there are some fertile females at all times of the year. Males sporting hard antlers are dominant over those in velvet or those without antlers, irrespective of their size and other factors. Stags commonly bellow during the rut.[11] Chital hinds have three week long estrous cycles. Chital courtship is based on tending bonds.[5][11] A stag will follow and guard a hind in estrous.[5] During this time the stag will not eat. The pair will do several bouts of chasing and mutual licking before copulation.[5][11] Hinds birth one fawn, rarely two, at a time.[5] Young fawns suckle longer than older fawns which suckle for 55 seconds. Hinds and fawns have loose bonds and it is common for them to get separated.[5] However because chital tend to stay close to each other it is not difficult for a hind to find a fawn.[5] Fawns sometimes gather in nurseries.
Chital are generally silent when grazing together.[5] They do however make high-pitched chuckles when walking. When grazing chital do a "courtesy posture" when they pass each other.[5] The bellow of a chital stag exists in a primitive state of development compared to other deer like the red deer or elk. Its calls is one or several coarse bellows and loud growls, which may be weaker versions of the bellow.[5] Bellowing coincides with rutting.[11][16] Stags guarding estrous females will make high-pitched growls at lesser stags that hung about.[5] Stag will also moan during aggressive displays or when resting.[17] When alarmed, chital will bark. These barks usually occur among females and juveniles and is repeated back and forth. Fawns that are separated from their mothers will squeal. When in danger, they run in groups. They will make bursts of high-speed running and then soon tire and dive into heavy cover to hide.[5]

[edit]Status

The Chital is listed by the IUCN as Least Concern "because it occurs over a very wide range within which there are many large populations".[1] Currently there are no range-wide threats to chitals and they live in many protected areas. However popualtion densities are below ecological carrying capacity in many places due to hunting and competition with domestic livestock. Hunting for the deer's meat has caused substantial declines and local extinctions.[1] The Chital is protected under Schedule III of the Indian Wildlife Protection Act (1972) (Sankar and Acharya 2004) and under the Wildlife (Preservation) (Amendment) Act, 1974 of Bangladesh.[1] Two primary reasons for its good conservation status are its legal protection as a species and a network of functioning protected areas.[1]
The Chital has been introduced to QueenslandAustraliaChileArgentinaUruguayPoint Reyes National Seashore near San Francisco, California, Texas and Florida as well as Hawaii in the United States and to the Veliki Brijun Island in the Brijuni Archipelago of the Istrian Peninsula in Croatia.