Mungall's Miscellany for Hoofed Stock Management

Feature # 24, Summer 2004.

       FIELD GUIDE FOR TODAY'S CHINA

Mungall greets Indian blackbuck female.
Photo courtesy ZooWorld.

When you think of Chinese mammals, the giant panda and Père David’s deer probably come to mind right away. As expected, these are only two of a long list of species in the recent field guide, “The Mammals of China.” The big surprise this book holds for many ungulate enthusiasts from the West is how rich the Chinese fauna is in hoofed species, both odd-toed animals and even-, and in so many groups. And so many hoofed animals defy unequivocal classification into traditional groups. It is exciting to get a modern summary for the whole range of species in such an attractive and compact format. For mammals in China, readers now can bring their information up to date using:

Sheng Helin, Noriyuki Ohtaishi, and Lu Houji. 1999. The Mammals of China. China Forestry Publishing House, Beijing, P. R. China. 298 pp. ISBN 7-5038-2072-1.

This book can be ordered from distributors or direct from China Forestry Publishing House, No. 7, Liuhai Hutong, Xicheng District, Beijing, 100009, P. R. China, Tel.:+86 10 66177224, Fax:+86 10 66180373, e-mail: cfphz@public.bta.net.cn, Web site: www.naturalbook.com. Their catalog also includes other interesting animal titles.

At the end of the volume, the authors introduce themselves. Their information shows a particularly strong research interest in deer in addition to a commitment to conservation issues. First author Sheng Helin is professor of mammalogy at the East China Normal University and Director of the Zoological Ecology Research Program. As field researcher and teacher, he has been involved with animal ecology and mammalogy for more than 40 years, the last 20 concentrating on deer studies in China. Memberships include the Deer Specialists Group of the Species Survival Commission of IUCN. Author Noriyuku Ohtaishi is professor of mammalogy in the veterinary department at Hokkaido University. His research and teaching for the past 35 years and more have included zoological geography. Starting in 1986, he has conducted a number of research projects on deer in Qinghai, Tibetan Plateau, Northeastern China, and Xinjiang. Author Lu Houji is professor of ecology and director of the Centre for Conservation Biology at the East China Normal University. Since 1987, he has conducted training courses in China in association with the Smithsonian Institution in conservation biology and wildlife management.

The text has the standard categories description, habits, reproduction, and distribution followed by a category for conservation status. This last lists status in China and status as designated by IUCN. This category or the distribution category often gives an estimate for present numbers or similar population notes. Complementing the text are color photographs of the animals and distribution maps. Many of the photographs are chosen to show native habitat. Various of the pictures are dramatic for the scenery, for the animal associations, or for behavior. The white lipped deer have impressive mountains. The sambar stag has a bird on his back. For a clear idea of how a musk deer can balance in a tree, look at the impressive view of the hoofs. And have you ever seen a frisky yak?

The impressive list of odd-toed and even-toed taxa are:

Equidae
Wild horse (Przewalski’s horse)
Asiatic wild ass (hemionus)
Kiang

Suidae
Wild boar

Camelidae
Bactrian camel

Tragulidae
Lesser Malay chevrotain

Moschidae
Siberian musk deer
Black musk deer
Himalayan musk deer
Forest musk deer
Alpine musk deer

Cervidae
Chinese water deer
Tufted deer
Black muntjac
Chinese muntjac (Reeves’s muntjac)
Indian muntjac
Fea’s muntjac
Hog deer
Milu (Père David’s deer)
Moose
Red deer
Reindeer
Roe deer
Sambar
Sika deer
Thamin
White lipped deer

Bovidae
Asiatic ibex
Argali
Blue sheep
Banteng
Gaur
Mithan
Common goral
Red goral
Goitered gazelle
Przewalski’s gazelle
Mongolian gazelle
Tibetan gazelle
Tibetan antelope
Saiga
Mainland serow
Taiwan serow
Himalayan tahr
Takin
Yak

So, if you want to check whether the wild horse is in the wild again (yes, under semi-captive conditions) or how re-introduction of milu (Père David’s deer) has been progressing (semi-captive populations increasing and now released into the wild as of 1994), then this book would be a valued addition to your shelf.

PHOTOS OF SOME ASIAN ANIMALS LIVING AS EXOTICS IN THE UNITED STATES:

Père David’s deer (by Elizabeth Cary Mungall courtesy of Global Wildlife, Folsom, Louisiana).

Bactrian camel (by Elizabeth Cary Mungall courtesy of Global Wildlife, Folsom, Louisiana).

Yak (by Elizabeth Cary Mungall courtesy of Arbuckle Wilderness, Davis, Oklahoma).

QUIZ QUESTION

Feature # 23 answer: According to fallow deer specialists Donald and Norma Chapman, the “Irish elk” was neither an elk – either of the American or the European kind – nor a close relative of today’s fallow deer in spite of both having palmate antlers. Instead, the “Clacton fallow” is viewed as a very similar species. It’s remains have been identified from Spain and Italy as well as from Clacton-on-Sea in Essex, England.

Summer 2004 question: What is it about the humps of the Bactrian camel that is likely to indicate whether the animal is a wild specimen or a domestic individual? 

 

  Bactrian camel.
  Domestication of the Arabian camel.
  Re-introduction of Przewalski’s horse.

Other: 

Comments (on anything):

Click on send to register your responses.

Click here to return to the beginning of this home page. Thanks for the visit.

---

 This page was last updated on: July 29, 2004.

 101 people have visted this site since the last feature was posted.

 This site was established on October 27, 1996.
 
 




If you have comments or suggestions, for this page please email me at:

Emungall@ev1.net