Maral is an animal from the family of deer. Maral's Description

Maral is an animal of Altai, one of the most amazing creatures of nature. The blood of this magnificent representative of ungulates has long been used by man for treatment. Its unique properties are not repeated in any other living being, for which they are valued all over the world. Maral is an animal that is not just the protagonist of various myths and legends of Altai, but also the subject of trade.

Appearance

This species was isolated in an independent way back in 1873. However, later, in 1961, he was referred to one of the subspecies of the red deer. This species consists of three groups: Central Asian, Western and Siberian. Here in the last, called still maral, enters the maral.

The wild animal has a noble appearance. Among the other deer that make up the genus, this is the largest specimen. Its weight reaches 305 kg, males have a body up to 261 cm long, growing at the withers up to 168. Horns grow to 108 centimeters. The females are smaller than males by about 20%. In summer, the color of this deer's body is slightly reddish or has a brownish-brown color. In winter, the animals are painted in brownish-gray tones, the mirror is yellowish, large, partly enters the croup and is surrounded by a dark strip. The horns have many branches - at least 5 sprouts on each bar, including the supraorbital ones.

Place of Residence

Maral is an animal of the Red Book. However, this almost does not help the species escape from extinction. Therefore, today these deer live in a fairly limited territory - Altai, Kyrgyzstan, Tien Shan, Krasnoyarsk Territory and New Zealand. In addition, there are several maral breeding farms in which they are engaged in protection, breeding, but also using these magnificent animals.

Food

Despite the fact that this deer, like other varieties of it, is an absolute vegetarian, its food is very diverse. And month from month the diet strongly varies.

So, with the onset of spring, winter food gradually changes to summer forages. Since April, the menu is replenished with green poison, but only by the end of the month it makes up most of the diet, and then, this applies to those animals that live in the lower part of the mountains. On the average, the middle of April is still rich in bark and branches of willow, mountain ash and other shrubby. In most of the habitats until May, the animals do not disdain the withering grassy rags.

In the summer, all herbs, as they awaken from hibernation, become the food of this magnificent deer, whose naming is maral. The Red Book of the Chelyabinsk region includes this animal not only because the person directly exterminates it, but also because the development of agriculture and production reduces the territories on which a reindeer can feed.

So, in the summer, the maral chews practically everything that meets it on the way: succulent branches of willow, wormwood, reed, fescue, sedge, various signs, plantain, dog rose, currant, sorrel and a huge amount of other plant foods growing on its way.

In September, the animal was maral, the description of which implies that it eats a lot, receives very little green food, eating mostly dry grass and willow shoots. At this time, animals try to find the most nutritious and juicy food to have some reserves of subcutaneous fat by the winter. Often they happen to find the fallen fruit of wild apple trees, which animals love very much.

October / November - still months of grass, but already withered and withered. All shrubby plants that have not yet lost their leaflets turn out to be gnawed deer - even conifers are in use.

In winter, the marals find dry grass stems in the snow, but still rely more on the leaves and stems of the purification of the hybrid, because even in this harsh period they remain juicy. Rowan shoots, needles, bark, twigs of honeysuckle, raspberries, dogrose - this is the main food of the deer from November / December to March.

Reproduction

Maral is an animal that starts to multiply quite late. They can start mating even from the age of fifteen months, however, most of the females begin to bring calves only after three years. Males begin the formation of harems only from the age of five.

Usually bulls begin to show the first signs of excitation by the end of August. Together with this they migrate to places where females graze with young animals. Approximately in the same period, adult bulls begin to roar.

Every year this happens in some places, most often on felling, in mountain saddles and other similar areas. First the bulls keep themselves apart, occasionally mating with the horns of the rival. In the fight, only adults enter, the young leaves from the rival. In such tournaments, animals do not cause damage to each other, as, in fact, they just push each other.

At first, females do not notice the roar, but gradually move closer to the bulls, somehow choosing the strongest. Perhaps his voice and the development of horns are crucial. Thus, the females decide for themselves whom they should "marry."

After the formation of the harem, the male takes up his guard, driving away the other bulls. A noble deer - a maral - most often has a harem in 2-3 females, but no more than five.

After fertilization, females live in an educated "family" for a while. The harem finally disintegrates in October, as males pay more attention to reinforced nutrition than females.

Pregnancy in the maral lasts 236-255 days. The embryo is clearly visible in a month or two. By the end of winter, specialists can clearly determine the sex of the calf. By the time of delivery, females find secluded places where it is possible to cover a newborn - most often it is thickets of aspen, felling and burning.

The hotel mainly takes place in May / June. The calf can see, run. Very rarely there are two calves in females. Quite often you can see a grazing female with two calves, but this does not always indicate the appearance of twins - rather, the second calf lost the mother and nailed to the one that could accept it.

However, despite the ability to move, the kid can not escape the pursuers yet. Therefore, the female, noticing the approach of the enemy, tries to draw his attention by his persona, after which he flies, escaping from the place of resting the cub.

Breeding

Maral is an animal useful to humans. Therefore, his breeding is done in special farms. The process of reproduction occurs naturally. These farms are organized mainly to obtain maralih pant. This is a very valuable product that is used in medicine. Previously, for its extraction, deer were killed, immediately after its removal the maral remains alive.

Panties are young horns of marals that have not yet hardened. Take them off before the end of growth. Harvest them, cutting them off from a living animal. After that, cook and dry. Canned panty are the material for making medicines, dietary supplements. Most of the mined pantas are purchased by China and South Korea.

In the wild, marals live relatively short - only 12-14 years, whereas in cattle-breeding farms they function up to 30 years. The most developed maral breeding in the Altai. This business differs from the breeding of domestic cattle only in the specific nature of the food and the location of the pastures.

To get the best quality pant, you need to graze animals at a certain height, giving them at least two hundred different kinds of grasses. A very important influence is provided by winter fodder.

Ecology

The most typical for this species are the mountain forest-steppes. It is these zones that allow him to gain the necessary weight for the winter, feeding on the most useful food. Among other deer, the maral is the most herbivorous. It is for this reason that it is more difficult for him to survive in the snowy winters, feeding on one branch. A noble deer is food for wolves, bears, even lynxes and wolverines.

Number of species

As already mentioned, the number of this species is constantly falling. The reason for this is not only natural causes, such as eating by predators, a small amount of food in the snowy winters, but also the impact of human activity. Currently, in the wild, this powerful and beautiful deer is almost never found - the maral. The Red Book claims that its number in the wild is only a few thousand. If a person does not keep a deer in wildlife reserves and farms, it will soon be impossible to meet him in the wild forests.

Using Man

In our country, mainly used are deer antlers, which are dried and in the form of powder used in various medical preparations. However, in other countries, like in some of the peoples of our state, the blood and meat and skins of these animals are used. Maral blood is rich in proteins, micro- and macroelements, fats, nucleic acids, hormones, peptides, amino acids, vitamins, steroids and many other substances. And the blood and bodies of maral, and vessels of antlers are used - their biological activity is the same.

The price of animals - marals - in the Central Federal District and other regions is about 90,000 rubles for a living individual. Prices of deer parts are not advertised by either sellers or buyers.

Security measures

The most effective measure is the constant protection of animals wherever these individuals remain. In addition, it is necessary to toughen penalties for the extraction of these ungulates. In our time, such events are not being conducted, so soon we can completely lose this amazing animal.