The division of gray wolf subspecies has always been controversial. The World Mammal Classification published in 2005 divided the world grey wolf into 37 subspecies. In China, wolves in Tibet, Qinghai and Yunnan are considered as a subspecies, while wolves in Northeast China and North China are considered as another subspecies. Wolves in Mongolia and Xinjiang have not been fully studied. Himalayan wolves in western India are completely different from Mongolian wolves (at the level of subspecies), and it is speculated that they are the oldest wolf lineage in the world.
Let's talk about the distribution of wolves. The distribution map of China Animal Farm Manual shows that wolves are distributed all over the country, which may be made by the author after consulting historical materials. This map shows the historical distribution area of wolves. But in fact, due to the destruction of habitat and the long-term killing of them by human beings, wolves are only distributed in the area north of 30 degrees north latitude, basically distributed in blocks, and have become extinct in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces. At present, there are a certain number of wolves in Qinghai, Tibet, Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia and other places, and there are reports that wolves prey on livestock from time to time. With the increase of the number and population of wolves, the conflict between Kinro and Wolf Brigade has become increasingly fierce.
Wolves are social animals and live in groups. Among wolves, only alpha males and alpha females can breed. Generally speaking, the wolf's spouse is fixed unless the spouse dies. The whole pack takes care of the cubs together.
Wolves have a wide range of food habits, so they have strong viability. But that doesn't mean they can live well. After understanding the basic situation of the wolf, we get down to business: the feeding preference of the wolf and the conflict in Jinluyuan: Wolf Journey. According to the literature consulted here, take four regions as examples. Among them, there are many studies on wolf nature in Dalai Lake area of Inner Mongolia, which can be written in more detail-
In the greater and lesser Xing 'an Mountains, wolves tend to prey on domestic sheep and pigs, with the highest proportion of pigs. It also preys on a certain proportion of cattle, moose, red deer and rabbits, and eats a small amount of plants. According to the analysis of Professor Zhang Honghai's paper, wolves prefer to prey on domestic animals, which may be due to the decrease in the number of wild animals in this area. As we know, compared with the west, the northeast is dominated by settled farming and the population density is higher, which undoubtedly affects the survival of wolves, not only occupying their habitat, but also giving them more opportunities to prey on livestock.
In Dalai Lake area of Inner Mongolia, wolves tend to prey on domestic sheep. In Professor Gao Zhongxin's research from 65438 to 0996, it was found that wolves in this area will prey on wild antelopes (that is, the collected wolf dung has antelope hair); Ten years later, Yan did not find the phenomenon of wolves preying on antelopes in the study of the feeding habits of wolves in this area. Three years later, in 2009, Liu Xinping also studied the feeding habits of wolves in this area, but no wild ungulates such as antelopes were found in the food of wolves. The lack of wild resources forces wolves to choose to prey on domestic animals.
But wolves are not like this all year round or all the time and everywhere. According to the research in Dalai Lake area, the local freezing period is the peak period for wolves to prey on livestock, even from September to February of the following year, the amount of wolves preying on livestock accounts for 89.74% of the annual livestock. This is the most difficult time for wolves to find wild animals. From March to April, when the weather gets warmer, wolves can use more wild food resources. In livestock production, many young animals died, and the discarded corpses also eased the wolf's foraging pressure. In summer, wolves will prey on some migratory birds. At these times, wolves pose less threat to livestock. Therefore, when wild prey and livestock coexist, wolves are more inclined to prey on wild prey.
Wolves also tend to prey on livestock at night. Wolves know that there is a price to pay for preying on livestock. Humans guard livestock during the day, and if they want to hunt, the risk is even greater. The risk is relatively small at night. Nowadays, many residents use iron nets on grasslands to prevent wild ungulates from competing with domestic animals for resources and threatening the survival of wild ungulates. The decline in the number of wild ungulates will naturally force wolves to prey more on domestic animals. In addition, the increase in the number of livestock itself has also promoted the predation of wolves.
Besides, Wula, Sai Han, Inner Mongolia. Wolves distributed in the core area of Wula Nature Reserve in Sai Han are mostly active on high-altitude ridges, and the core area is closed for grazing. The main prey of wolves in this area are grass rabbits, plants and rodents. With the strengthening of nature reserve management, the number of roe deer, red deer and terrestrial birds in nature reserves has increased year by year, providing more food resources for wolves.
In addition to the above prey, wolves also prey on wild boar. Wolves mainly prey on wild boar in winter and spring, probably because wild boar is weak at this time. However, wolves prey on fewer livestock.
It can be seen that wolves don't really "like" to prey on livestock (if wolves "like" to prey on livestock, they will hunt regardless of time and season and take the initiative to go to human activity areas), but they do lack wild prey to prey on, and the wolf's activity areas overlap with human activity areas in some areas.
Finally, look at Karamay, Xinjiang. Kalamaili Nature Reserve is a ungulate nature reserve, but it seems that it has not fully played the role of "protection" and vigorously restored the ungulate population-local people report that wolves in this area are very harmful to livestock. Of course, the peak of the "wolf disaster" is still in winter. In summer and autumn, wolves can make good use of wild resources and bring less losses to herders. In well-managed settlements, wolves rarely prey on livestock-good management increases the predation cost of wolves and reduces the predation opportunities of wolves.
What about foreign wolves? Learn a thing or two from the abstract of a document:
In northwest Spain, wolves mainly prey on goats, sheep and domestic dogs; Wolves in most parts of India mainly prey on goats and sheep. In Mongolia, wolves mainly prey on livestock; The main food of wolves in central and eastern Minnesota is deer, followed by mountain rabbits. In yukon river, North America, the wolf's main food is moose. In the first three places, the conflict between wolves and humans is more serious. The analysis shows that the wolf's habitat is fragmented, the local population density is high and the wildlife resources are scarce. The latter two have relatively small populations and abundant wildlife resources. The contradiction in Jin Roh: The Wolf Brigade seems to be insoluble, and there seems to be a peaceful solution.
Since ancient times, the game of Jin Lu: Wolf Brigade has never stopped. Wolves are gregarious animals, with certain emotions and wisdom. Livestock are poor in vigilance and defense, and are raised in large groups, so sometimes wolves can kill many livestock at a time for later enjoyment, which undoubtedly makes them bring more losses to people.
Now the wolf's habitat is compressed and fragmented, and human beings continue to expand into the depths of the wilderness. The wolf's small number of wild prey intensifies the contradiction between man and wolf. Even in North America, where there are relatively few conflicts, wolves are still hated by some herders, so that when faced with some livestock that have not been killed by the gray wolves in North America (or livestock were just killed by lightning and some animals ate them), they often throw the pot that killed livestock to the wolves (in fact, bears and coyotes in the same area will also attack livestock).
It is worth noting that the openness of the United States to hunting wolves has made people point their finger at the wolf, even the wolf king. Wolves are gregarious animals and generally cooperate in hunting. The leader of the wolf pack can play a good role in restraining and leading other individuals. An experienced and strong wolf is more likely to lead the wolves to capture large wild ungulates and get enough food. And if shot, wolves may no longer be able to easily capture large ungulates and risk attacking livestock. To treat wolves, even if they are protected and multiply in large numbers one day, the number needs to be controlled, and the countermeasures are not just as simple as picking up shotguns. Personally, I think we should make management countermeasures in groups.
Wolves can control the number of medium or even large herbivores and improve their quality, which small predators and modern hunting can't do; Moreover, a relatively perfect and complex food web is what a healthy ecosystem should have. When we need to protect herbivores, we need to maintain a certain number of corresponding predators. Considering the historical distribution of wolves and the kinds of prey they prey on, wolves are needed in many areas.
In a word, what we have to do is to find a balance point between Jinluo and Wolf Brigade, which not only protects people's livelihood, but also keeps wolves healthy from generation to generation. Jin Lu: It is not impossible for wolves and brigades to get along naturally, which requires a lot of research and joint efforts. I hope I can make a breakthrough in this kind of problem in my lifetime.
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