Today, it is snowing all over the country, and we will introduce several species of snow-related wild animals that are typical of the Western Regions and that people know a little about.
(1) Snow finch, inhabiting mountains, grasslands, deserts, bare rocks, ice and snow lines at an altitude of 2000-5000 meters. The snowfinch is extremely hardy and resistant to the hypoxic environment of the plateau. It belongs to the passerine order and the finch family, and is systematically classified as the same group as the sparrow, with a body length of 14-18 cm. The snowfinch is not distributed in the cold polar regions, but is mainly distributed in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and its surroundings, with seven or eight species, including white-winged snowfinch, black-throated snowfinch, white-rumped snowfinch, brown-winged snowfinch, etc., which are also distributed in Xinjiang.
Black-throated snowfinches and white-winged snowfinch, both of which can be found outside the Tibetan Plateau
(2) There are only 5 species of snowcock in the world, and 3 of them are distributed in China, including Xinjiang, namely light-bellied snowcock, dark-bellied snowcock, and Altai snowcock. The snowcock is the world's most distributed chiniform, and it is also mainly distributed in the Tibetan Plateau and surrounding areas. It is generally distributed 3000~6000 meters, and can be directly reached above the snow line. Snowcock feeds on the flowers, stems, roots, leaves, and buds of plants, and is almost a vegetarian. The snowcock is large and clumsy, weighs about 3 kg, is not good at flying, is a resident bird, and has no migration Xi (vertical migration does not count).
The dark-bellied snowcock, also known as the Himalayan snowcock, is actually centered in the Tianshan Mountains of Xinjiang
(3) Snow hares, which once belonged to rodents, are now separate mammals, hagomorphes, rabbits, and rabbits. The color of the snow hare's coat varies with the seasons and is the only hare's winter coat color that can turn white. It is mainly distributed in the Altai Mountains in Xinjiang, as well as the Daxing'an Mountains in the northeast. Fossil excavations, snow hare were widely distributed in Eurasia during the historical ice age, and later migrated north as the glacier retreated. It is different from other snow species, and has nothing to do with the uplift of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, which shows its antiquity.
Snow hare, a mammal that can change color
(4) The snow leopard, also a snow-capped mountain species distributed around the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, inhabits the mountains at an altitude of 3000-6000 meters above sea level, and is the flagship species. China is the core country of the snow leopard, with less than 40% of the population in the surrounding 11 countries. We have been studying snow leopards for 20 years, and we were the first to use infrared cameras to photograph snow leopards, and published monographs such as "Xinjiang Snow Leopard" and "Snow Leopard Descending the Tianshan Mountains", which has become the most important research team in China. At present, the global snow leopard population is 4,000-7,000 individuals, which was "downgraded" by the IUCN in the past few years, indicating that our research and conservation in the past 20 years have achieved initial results.
The snow leopard, the flagship alpine species, is also an indicator species of a positive ecological environment, and is only distributed in 12 countries in Central Asia.
Source: Popular Science China Network