Live nature: starting from the discovery of the white tiger girl

, live broadcasting nature: starting from the discovery of the white tiger mother

In fact, there is no shortage of albino animals here at all. I remember that Li Xiaoman, a drug farmer from the Tianjiashan Herb Farm in Shennongjia, accidentally discovered a bear den while collecting Chinese medicine. There were several bears lying in it. One of them attracted Li's attention, because This bear cub is completely different from other cubs, it has white fur.

Afterwards, Li sold the little white bear to Wuhan Zhongshan Park.This is the first time in modern times that an albino animal was discovered and photographed in Shennongjia, and it was also the first time that a white bear had been discovered so far.

Since ancient times, there have been rumors of "albino" animals in Shennongjia. However, the technology was relatively backward in the past, so there was no video data. Starting from the little white bear in the 20s, there have been 50 white bears discovered in Shennongjia for decades. left and right.

Except for the white bear, so far, white snakes have been found no less than 3 times, and white deer have been found 2 times. Other white crows, magpies, owls, weasels, and even golden monkeys have been found albino here.

However, albinism is a very rare phenomenon in nature, why has it become a "common" situation in Shennongjia?Let's talk about this issue together.

Many water friends in the live broadcast room are curious about what is an albino animal?

Simply put, an albino animal is an animal whose body color is abnormally white. The so-called abnormal whiteness means that the body color of this animal is not white, but appears white, so polar bears and arctic foxes are not albino animals.Albino animals generally fall into two main categories: sickly and normal forms.

The first is morbidity.Sick albino animals are the same as what we often call "albinism". Albinism is a disease caused by the lack of substances that synthesize melanin in the melanocytes of the animal body. This is a genetic mutation formed Disease, animals with this disease, not only the hair and skin turn white, but also the iris is red, which is also caused by the lack of melanin.

Second is normality.The normal form mentioned here just means that it is not sick, and it is still very rare in nature. This type of albino animal is called "albino variant".

White variants are also caused by genetic mutations, but their mutations turn recessive genes into dominant ones. For example, the Bengal white tiger is a variant of the Bengal tiger, and the white lion is a variant of the South African lion. They are the most different from albinism It is the eyes that are of normal color because they do not lack melanin.

On the whole, the probability of an animal suffering from albinism is much higher than its chance of forming a white variant. It can only reach one in 50.

Although we often see Bengal white tigers in some media, in fact, these Bengal white tigers are all descendants of the Bengal white tigers captured in India in 1951, which means that the current white tigers are the result of artificial directional breeding.

Among the albino animals found in Shennongjia in history, there are both albino animals and "white variants", but, in comparison, there are more white variants.

The reason why Shennongjia is prone to albino animals is actually very simple.

As we all know, for animals living in the wild, their body color is actually a protective color, which makes it difficult for animals at the bottom of the food chain to be discovered by hunters and makes it easier for predators to approach their prey.

The reason why white is rare in nature is because it is too eye-catching. For herbivores, they are easier to be found by predators. For carnivores, they are also easier to be found by prey, thus reducing the hunting success rate. .

Polar bears and arctic foxes live in a world of ice and snow, and their white hair is easier to see through and hide.

Therefore, white animals are very rare in nature, and even if they appear, they are quickly eliminated, leaving no offspring.

In the world, Shennongjia has the most albino animals, more than a dozen kinds. However, although scientists have done many researches,

But there has been no definite explanation, but two relatively scientific hypotheses.

Such as the so-called inbreeding theory.

Inbreeding can cause some harmful recessive genes of animals to become dominant, and white is obviously a harmful body color for most animals. As for recessive genes, this is actually because most animals have changed from the ice age Come on, so there is more or less the gene for white hair.

The reason is that polar bears have the same white hair, and with the end of the ice age, this white was gradually replaced by other colors and became a recessive gene.

Therefore, some scientists believe that human activities have caused the independence of Shennongjia, and the animals living in it cannot have genetic communication with outside animals, so that inbreeding will occur, and white animals will appear.

There is also the chance of survival.

In areas with more complex species diversity, albino animals are more likely to appear. This is a matter of probability. That is to say, areas with better ecological environment and more biomass are more prone to albino animals.

However, if there is a complete ecological chain in an area, the chances of albino animals surviving are very small, as we have already mentioned above.

In Shennongjia, although there is no problem with biodiversity, the ecological chain is relatively lacking, which has a lot to do with the extinction of South China tigers in the wild.

At present, the only large carnivores in Shennongjia are bears and leopards, and the number of these two species is not large, so for herbivores, even if they are albino, their chances of survival are relatively high, which is easy for us to find.

Similarly, bears are at the top of the food chain in Shennongjia. They are not threatened by tigers. They are easy to survive after albinism. Besides, whether they are brown bears or black bears, their main food is plants, so there is no situation that they cannot be caught by hunting. . "Shennongjia is the place with the most albino animals in the world, which also casts a veil of mystery on Shennongjia, but in fact there are two kinds of albinism: pathological and normal variability, both of which are species with a small probability It will happen. The reason why Shennongjia is "abundant" with albino animals may be related to the fact that the animals in Shennongjia have less gene exchange with the outside world, which is caused by inbreeding and the relative lack of ecological chain in Shennongjia.

Chen Yuan explained in detail.

But before this search, Chen Yuan actually found an albino bear in Shennongjia.

The albino bear is identified as an albino species of the Asian black bear, but some scholars believe that it should be an independent species.The coat color of its whole body is not white, but light orange with straw yellow.The head is very big, the two ears are almost round and the proportion is very small, and a small tail less than two inches is always sandwiched. It looks like a giant panda, but the mouth is longer.Polar bears have a docile personality and a very keen sense of smell.

Its white hair is as fine and soft as velvet. Except for the long hair on the cheeks, the hair on other parts of its body is shorter than that of black bears, neat, elegant and dense, without crescent spots. The hair on the neck and shoulders is shorter, and the color on the upper lip and the tip of the nose is light. Red, and the eyes are also red.

It has a big head, two erect ears, and a small tail that is less than two inches is always clamped. It looks like a giant panda, but the mouth is more prominent.Its body shape is similar to that of a black bear, but its face is slightly shorter than that of a black bear, but its vision is better than that of a black bear. It has no habit of hibernation and often looks for food in the snow.

It grows in virgin forests and arrow bamboo forests above 1500 meters above sea level, and uses wild fruits, bamboo shoots, and young leaves as its main food.The white bears in the zoo like to play with people, and even crawl into people's arms and close their eyes to rest.When it is happy, it stands upright and dances, sometimes imitating human movements, which is very cute.It has a keen sense of smell, is good at finding food, and often dances when it is full.

In fact, the first albino animal discovered in Shennongjia was an albino bear very early on.

In the summer of 1954, Li Xiaoman, a drug farmer at the Tianjiashan medicinal material plantation in Shennongjia, accidentally caught a full-term white bear in the bear den while collecting herbs in the Caiziya forest, and was bought by Wuhan Zhongshan Park to raise. For tourists to watch.

In mid-June 1977, several loggers from the forestry team of the Forestry Administration found a bear den in a deep cave. There was a little white bear in the den. They sent the little white bear to the Shennongjia field expedition team.Four or five white bears in Shennongjia have been captured successively. The locals call it "Guoshan Bear". It usually walks erratically, lives in the arrow bamboo bushes in the virgin forest above 6 meters above sea level for a long time, and eats wild fruit bamboo shoots and arrow bamboo leaves for a living.Its local people also call it "Panda Bear", while people outside the mountain call it "Shen Nong White Bear".

It has also been speculated that white bears may be polar bears. More than 10 billion years ago, Shennongjia was a vast ocean, and polar bears were stranded due to geological movements.Alternatively, polar bears migrated to Shennongjia with Quaternary glacial movements.

Chen Renlin, president of the Shennong Culture Research Association, said in an interview: "I don't agree with the 'atavism theory' and 'immigrant theory' of white bears." He has studied Shennongjia animals and plants for 15 years and has published 2 monographs.

Chen Renlin said that apart from fur color, there are many differences between white bears and black bears.In terms of ability, white bears can build their own nests and are smarter than black bears that live in trees or caves; in terms of living habits, black bears hibernate, while white bears often wander in forests, seas and snowfields for food.

Compared with polar bears, Shennongjia white bears are also different.The former is mainly carnivorous, while the latter is omnivorous.Chen Renlin said that Shennongjia is rich in animals, and there is no need for polar bears to change their eating habits.

He said that there is a record of "罴" in "Historical Records of Emperors".This proves that white bears existed in ancient my country.The ancients were influenced by ideology, so when they saw some uncommon animals, they would name them "auspicious beasts".For example, the silly roe deer that can be seen everywhere in Northeast China generally have grass-yellow hair, but if you accidentally saw a silly roe deer with a snow-white body in the wild, the ancients would think it was an auspicious photo from heaven.

The diversity of species on the earth is a beautiful landscape. Although we stand at the top of the food chain and have mastered high technology, human beings still cannot see the whole picture of the earth, and there are still many rare species that have not been discovered.

So besides albino bears, there are also albino silly roe deer.

Patrollers in the Limon area accidentally discovered a mysterious species with a whole body of snow. This animal is running happily between the sky and the earth, just like a snow elf. Species are stupid roe deer

After the photo of the silly roe deer that has always been snow-white was put on the Internet, it also aroused heated discussions among netizens. Many netizens began to wonder why there are so many creatures with albinism today.

Silly roe deer is a relatively common animal in Northeast China, but its coat color is grass yellow, and the whole body is still relatively white. In fact, this is not a new species, but because of the emergence of genes during the evolution process. Defects, in fact, this is a type of species eliminated by nature.

Snow-white silly robes are indeed rare, and their ornamental value is very high, but from a scientific point of view, this kind of animal is actually very unfortunate.It is because of their own genetic defects that they will eventually be eliminated by the laws of nature.

In Northeast China and other nature reserves, creatures with albinism are not very common.

However, near the mysterious primeval forest Shennongjia, albino creatures often appear, which seems very strange.

In order to better protect the natural environment and keep the habitat of wild animals from being affected by human behavior, the country has been vigorously protecting the ecological environment near Shennongjia, so Shennongjia is also a paradise for wild animals.However, some albino animals are often photographed near Shennongjia. Some of these animals are very common, and some are very rare and rare species. uu Reading once photographed a platinum snub-nosed monkey near Shennongjia.

The appearance of so many albino creatures near Shennongjia has also attracted the attention of scientists.According to the research of relevant people, it is found that because the Shennongjia area is located in a virgin forest, which is a closed space, the probability of local organisms being affected by alien species is relatively low.

Therefore, during the reproductive period, it is very likely to be affected by inbreeding, which directly violates the requirements of genetic diversity in the process of biological evolution, and thus also leads to albino species often caused by genetic defects near Shennongjia.

Of course, there are still some people who think that Shennongjia belongs to the virgin forest. Although it is relatively closed, there are not so many albino creatures under the influence of inbreeding conditions!It is very likely that the geographical environment near Shennongjia is different from other areas. It is possible that there are some radioactive natural substances in the Shennongjia area, which is why there are many albino animals near Shennongjia.

Some people think that there are so many albino animals near Shennongjia, which may be a new species. After all, human beings have never been able to see the whole picture of the earth, and so far there is no way to fully explore every piece of land in Shennongjia, so Shennongjia There may also be some unknown newborn species nearby.

And all of this is just speculation by representatives of various parties. The official has not given a specific answer as to why there are so many albino animals near Shennongjia, but there is one issue that must be paid attention to.

The diversity of the earth's creatures is the key to maintaining the earth's ecological balance. Therefore, human beings have the responsibility and even more obligation to protect the mother earth and other creatures on the earth.

At this time, Chen Yuan also began to slow down a lot, because the white bear seemed to have found him.