Three Treasures of Huayang

Text/Ruomuhan

Photos/Ruomuhan, Wang Changda, Liao Zhenxing

The Qinling Mountains, the crucial north-south watershed in my country, stretches for more than 1,500 kilometers , it can be said that there are mountains and valleys, mountains and mountains, green peaks and green snails. These green valleys contain countless wild treasures, the most famous of which are the "Four Treasures" of the Qinling Mountains - giant pandas, crested ibises, takin and golden monkeys.

Yangxian County, Hanzhong City, Shaanxi Province is located in the hinterland of the Qinling Mountains. These precious "four treasures" live in the whole county, and Huayang Town under its jurisdiction is even more blessed, with its "three treasures" in one town. ——Giant panda, takin and crested ibis.

? Qinling Giant Panda

The reason why it is called Qinling Giant Panda is because it has lived in the rolling Qinling Mountains for a long time and is relatively isolated from other areas, thus forming a unique Qinling style. subspecies of giant panda.

Since the discovery of Sichuan giant pandas, their classic "black and white costumes" have not changed. However, the giant pandas in the Qinling area were not satisfied with the "matching" of black and white, so they adjusted the black chest spots of the Sichuan giant pandas to dark brown and the white belly spots to brown. ; Not only that, they also adjusted the long, more bear-like heads of Sichuan giant pandas into round heads, making them look more like cats.

However, both the Sichuan giant panda and the Qinling giant panda are my country's most precious national treasures. They are naive, beautiful and fragile. They are not resistant to any attack. We can only rely on our people to unite as one, protect their reproduction and create a greener and more environmentally friendly ecological environment for them, so that they can continue to thrive and be passed down from generation to generation.

In the giant panda park not far from Huayang Town, a giant panda is lying on its dedicated trail, which is paved with wood. It takes a rest and walk here, gracefully and leisurely .

Because it is too pampered, in such a narrow and forced environment, it has no choice but to eat and sleep in this way. When it sleeps, it eats. When it is happy, it gets up and walks around, posing and posing, making tourists exclaim and admire. I didn't dare to shout loudly, for fear of disturbing its tranquility.

This is an adult giant panda. Sure enough, the spots on this cute big guy's chest are dark brown, and the entire belly is brown. Although it has lost the purity of black, it still has something moving about it.

As if it wanted to surprise visitors, it lay there for a while, then slowly got up and swayed towards the "room" under the hillside at the end of the trail, leaving a chubby figure to itself. Its fat butt is waiting for people to visit its companion on another path about five meters away from the front - but that guy doesn't give people face, hides in the "boudoir" and allows others to see through it, and refuses to come out despite repeated calls. When it came back disappointed, it walked out again, walking slowly in its unique "cat walk" one step at a time, as if there was no one around, as if this was its catwalk, and the whole world was letting it perform.

What a gorgeous, honest, and lazy guy.

People can’t help but wonder, after they are kept here for people to watch for a period of time, they should also undergo rewilding training like other artificially bred giant pandas, and then be released into the wild. Live freely, love and have children, right?

? Takin ox

Takin, also known as takin, wildebeest or golden takin. In my country, it is only distributed in Tangjiahe Nature Reserve, Qinling Nature Reserve, Tibet, and Yunnan in Guangyuan City. It is a typical alpine animal that often inhabits alpine forests, alpine meadows and cliff areas above 2,500 meters. It feeds on the bark of arrow bamboo, fir and other trees and shrub twigs. Because their thick horns bend from the top of the head to the sides and then upwards and inwards, as if they were deliberately twisted up, the common people call them takin or wildebeest.

The takin is one of the world-recognized precious and rare animals. It is a first-level protected animal in my country, listed as an endangered species in the Red Book, and listed in the Appendix of Endangered Species of Animals and Plants by the International Trade Convention. It was included in the 2008 Red List of Endangered Species of the World Conservation Union (IUCN).

It has a head like a horse, antlers like a deer, hooves like a cow, and a tail like a donkey. It is between a cow and a sheep and belongs to the subfamily Bovidae. The adult cow has long golden hair and a hard curved head. Horns, powerful, strong and handsome. People in Tangjiahe Nature Reserve in Sichuan mostly call them takin or wildebeest, while people in Qinling Nature Reserve prefer to call them "white sheep" or "yangzi".

When we went to Takin Park, there was not a single tourist. In the first fence, there was nothing in the dam. After careful inspection, I saw a large light-colored cow vaguely in the cowshed on the side of the mountain, but the cow's head was not visible. Calf; continue walking along the trail. In the second fence just one fence away, there is a calf that has not yet grown up and has short horns. It rushes straight to both sides of the eyes. The color is slightly light yellow, and it seems that Not much different from domestic cattle.

We were extremely disappointed and were about to leave. Suddenly, a loud snort came from the first cowshed. We were shocked. What happened? Going to fight?

I saw a big cow driving the calf out. After a while, a larger cow followed closely and chased out.

It turns out they are a family! The big guy who came out at the end was covered in golden hair, with a pair of curved and pointed horns. He was majestic, strong and beautiful. This was obviously the cow father; the cow mother was smaller than the cow father and was light gray all over. , only slightly golden, and the horns are twisted to the rear like the cow father, but slightly smaller and shorter; the cow baby is still young and immature, with a light brown body and no horns yet.

The snort just now was made by the cow father. As soon as it came out, it rushed towards the cow mother. In order to protect her cub, the cow mother pushed it out first and chased it far away.

After seeing the child go out, the mother cow turned her head and became affectionate with the father cow. They were chatting with each other at the door, affectionately, and looked so warm and sweet.

However, when the cow dad was about to take a step further, the cow mother suddenly turned her back and started running. The cow dad suddenly became furious, snorted angrily and chased the cow several times, up and down the slope. Mom seemed determined not to obey, so she ran towards the calf instead. We were all worried about the calf. Smart child, it quickly ran away.

It turns out that now is the season when cows are in estrus. The bull wooed the cow but failed, and almost hit the cow for a moment.

The sound alerted the caretaker in the room below the bullpen, and he came out and drank to stop the bull with us. After a few more chases, the bull finally drove the cow into their room, and the bull followed closely behind.

The administrator told us that they were not the original "couple" and that the cow was not the biological child of the bull, but the previous one. The previous bull was taken away due to illness, and the cow did not accept this "husband" who was younger than it, even though its "ex-husband" was also younger than it.

In the second pen are two brothers and sisters, in the third pen are two brothers, and their mothers are both mothers of calves - what a heroic mother! When the two brothers fought, one of the younger brother's horns was broken.

The cows in the two cattle pens heard the noise here and had already looked over from the gaps in the tall and strong cattle pens. Would they still recognize their mother if they were in the same enclosure? Will they help their mother deal with the "hateful stepfather"?

The administrator told us that once children leave their parents, they will become strangers and will no longer recognize each other. In the wild animal world, including birds, once children grow up and leave their parents, they will no longer exist. Kinship.

At this time, the poor calf missed his mother and did not dare to enter the room rashly, so he had to look in from the window. When the mother saw it, she quickly stretched out her lips from the window and kissed her. own children. It may be telling the child that the mother is safe and will come out to be with it soon.

? Crested Ibis

Photography: Liao Zhenxing

There is a beautiful bird that was once widely distributed in China, Japan, South Korea and Russia in East Asia because of its It is almost on the verge of extinction worldwide due to factors such as the massive felling of the tall trees it inhabits, the large-scale application of pesticides in rural areas and other man-made damage, as well as its own biological changes. Later, after a long and arduous investigation, Chinese scientists finally discovered the last seven remaining wild populations in the world in Baliguan Township, Yang County, and the rescue began across the country. After more than thirty years of unremitting efforts, the number has grown to more than 2,000 so far. Their graceful figures fly high among the forests and villages of Qinling Mountains.

This is the beautiful crested ibis known as the "Oriental Jewel"!

The crested ibis usually has pure white feathers, and its head, feather crown, back, wings and tail are dotted with beautiful pink; its eyes are like wearing big, bright red sunglasses. The sunglasses are so big that they even cover the entire face on top of the head and the back of the head; its curved beak is specially designed to peck at fish, frogs, shrimps, crabs, snails and other aquatic insects in swamps, riverbanks, rice fields, and streams; It also wears a pair of fashionable crimson bright boots; the tip of its mouth also has a little bit of red, which echoes the red sunglasses on its head and the red boots on its feet, making it extremely elegant and beautiful.

During the breeding period, the feathers on the head, neck, upper back and wings of the crested ibis will turn gray-black. However, this is not the case like the red-billed gull, because their feathers themselves will change. The color is due to the gray pigment secreted by their neck muscles that they constantly use their beaks to pick up and smear.

The most beautiful time for a crested ibis is when it spreads its wings and flies. Every morning, as the morning glow fills the entire sky from the east, the crested ibises, which are as calm and solitary as herons, soar from the tall trees where they roost at night. The bright glow of the glow reflects on their already bright red wings, tails, and heads. At this time, they are almost glowing, bright red and translucent, as beautiful and charming as red elves.

There are about a dozen crested ibises in the crested ibis garden. They, a few little egrets, and a magpie are all netted high up in a large nylon net. There are several small ponds on the ground. There are many tall pine trees beside the ponds. The pine trees are on a hillside that is not very short.

It seems that crested ibis likes sleeping on pine trees, right?

In the net, the crested ibis and its companions were gathered at the first small pond. Some were looking for food, some were perching in trees, and some were playing.

I don’t know why there are still a few snow-white sheep lying on the cement steps of the management room by the pond? Is it to eat the grass around the pond?

After walking around the perimeter of the huge fence, except for the first pond, there were no crested ibises anywhere else, not even the little egrets and magpies that accompanied them. Perhaps because of the disturbance from tourists, there are even fewer outside the fence.

There was a crested ibis, which probably forgot that it was in the fence. It soared into the sky from the green grass and flew high. Suddenly, a beautiful arc of white and rosy colors appeared in the fence. Crossed. When the arc reached the edge of the fence, he had no choice but to turn around and turn inside.

How sympathetic it is at this moment.