Chiru
The Tibetan antelope or chiru (Pantholops hodgsonii) is a medium-sized bovid native to the northeastern Tibetan plateau. Fewer than 150,000 mature individuals are left in the wild, but the population is currently thought to be increasing. In the 1980s and 1990s, Tibetan antelopes became endangered due to massive illegal poaching for their extremely soft, light, and warm underfur.
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DiurnalDiurnal animals are active during the daytime, with a period of sleeping or other inactivity at night. The timing of activity by an animal depends ...
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HerbivoreA herbivore is an animal anatomically and physiologically adapted to eating plant material, for example, foliage, for the main component of its die...
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FolivoreIn zoology, a folivore is a herbivore that specializes in eating leaves. Mature leaves contain a high proportion of hard-to-digest cellulose, less ...
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GraminivoreIn zoology, a graminivore (not to be confused with a granivore) is an herbivorous animal that feeds primarily on grass. Graminivory is a form of g...
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TerrestrialTerrestrial animals are animals that live predominantly or entirely on land (e.g., cats, ants, snails), as compared with aquatic animals, which liv...
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CursorialA cursorial organism is one that is adapted specifically to run. An animal can be considered cursorial if it has the ability to run fast (e.g. chee...
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PrecocialPrecocial species are those in which the young are relatively mature and mobile from the moment of birth or hatching. Precocial species are normall...
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GrazingGrazing is a method of feeding in which a herbivore feeds on plants such as grasses, or other multicellular organisms such as algae. In agriculture...
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CongregatoryCongregatory animals tend to gather in large numbers in specific areas as breeding colonies, for feeding, or for resting.
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ViviparousAmong animals, viviparity is the development of the embryo inside the body of the parent. The term 'viviparity' and its adjective form 'viviparous'...
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NomadicNomadic animals regularly move to and from the same areas within a well-defined range. Most animals travel in groups in search of better territorie...
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PolygynyPolygyny is a mating system in which one male lives and mates with multiple females but each female only mates with a single male.
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HerdingA herd is a social grouping of certain animals of the same species, either wild or domestic. The form of collective animal behavior associated with...
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starts withMale Tibetan antelopes are significantly larger than females, and can also be readily distinguished by the presence of horns and by black stripes on the legs, both of which the females lack. The coat is pale fawn to reddish-brown, with a whitish belly, and is particularly thick and woolly. The face is almost black in colour, with prominent nasal swellings that have a paler colour in males. In general, the colouration of males becomes more intense during the annual rut, with the coat becoming much paler, almost white, contrasting with the darker patterns on the face and legs. The males have long, curved-back horns that typically measure 54 to 60 cm (21 to 24 in) in length. The horns are slender, with ring-like ridges on their lower portions and smooth, pointed, tips. Although the horns are relatively uniform in length, there is some variation in their exact shape. The horns of Tibetan antelopes do not grow throughout life. The ears are short and pointed, and the tail is also relatively short, at around 13 cm (5 in) in length. The fur of Tibetan antelopes is distinctive, and consists of long guard hairs and a silky undercoat of shorter fibres. The individual guard hairs are thicker than those of other goats, with unusually thin walls, and have a unique pattern of cuticular scales, said to resemble the shape of a benzene ring.
Tibetan antelopes are found almost entirely in China, where they inhabit Tibet, southern Xinjiang, and western Qinghai; a few are also found across the border in Ladakh, India. Today, the majority are found within the Chang Tang Nature Reserve of northern Tibet. Tibetan antelopes inhabit open alpine, montane valleys, and cold steppe environments with sparse vegetation cover.
Tibetan antelopes are gregarious, sometimes congregating in herds that may include hundreds of individuals when moving between summer and winter pastures; however, they are more usually found in much smaller groups, with no more than 20 animals. The females migrate up to 300 km (190 mi) yearly to calving grounds in the summer, where they usually give birth to a single calf and rejoin the males at the wintering grounds in late autumn. Tibetan antelopes usually graze in the morning and evening and rest during the day. In winter, they often dig through the snow to obtain their food.
Tibetan antelopes are herbivores (folivores, graminivores). They feed on forbs, grasses, herbs, shrubland, and sedges.
Tibetan antelopes are polygynous meaning that one male mates with several females. The rutting season lasts from November to December. Males form harems of up to 12 females, although 1 to 4 is more common, and drive off other males primarily by making displays; they may also chase rivals with heads down, rather than sparring directly with their horns. Females give birth to a single calf in June or July, after a gestation period of about 6 months. The calves are precocial; they are born fully developed and can stand within 15 minutes of birth. They are fully grown within 15 months and reach reproductive maturity during their second or third year. Although young females may remain with their mothers until they give birth, males leave within 12 months, by which time their horns are beginning to grow. Males determine status by their relative horn length, with the maximum length being achieved at around 3,5 years of age.
In the 1980s and 1990s, Tibetan antelopes had become endangered due to massive illegal poaching. They are hunted for their extremely soft, light, and warm underfur. Such demands resulted in massive illegal poaching in the second half of the 20th century. In consequence, the population of this species has suffered a severe decline from nearly a million (estimated) at the turn of the 20th century to less than 75,000 in the 1990s. Other major threats include competition with livestock, expansion of agriculture, road building, illegal hunting, and fencing of pastures on the Tibetan plateau.
According to the IUCN Red List, the total population size of Tibetan antelopes is 100,000-150,000 mature individuals. Currently, this species is classified as Near Threatened (NT) on the IUCN Red List but its numbers today are increasing.
Due to their grazing habits, Tibetan antelopes hugely impact their ecosystem. They are also an important food source for local predators such as wolves, lynx, and snow leopards.
Social animals are those animals that interact highly with other animals, usually of their own species (conspecifics), to the point of having a rec...