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 a protagonist of various myths and legends of Altai, but also an object of trade.
Appearance
This species was isolated as an independent species back in 1873. However, later, in 1961, it was assigned to one of the subspecies of the red deer. This species consists of three groups: Central Asian, Western and Siberian. Here is the last one, also called deer, includes maral.
A wild animal has a noble appearance. Among 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, height at the withers up to 168. Horns grow up to 108 centimeters. Females are smaller than males by about 20%. In summer, the color of the body of this deer is slightly reddish or has a brownish color. In winter, animals are painted in brownish-gray tones, yellowish mirror, large, partly overlapping the croup and surrounded by a dark stripe. The horns have many branches - each rod has at least 5 processes, including supraorbital ones.
Locations
Maral is an animal of the Red Book. However, this does little to help the species escape extinction. Therefore, today these deer live in a rather limited area - Altai, Kyrgyzstan, Tien Shan, Krasnoyarsk Territory and New Zealand. In addition, there are several deer farms that protect, breed, but also use these magnificent animals.
Food
Despite the fact that this deer, like its other varieties, is an absolute vegetarian, its diet is very diverse. And month by month, the diet changes a lot.
So, with the onset of spring, winter food gradually changes to summer food. Since April, the menu has been replenished with green poison, but only by the end of the month it makes up the bulk of the diet, and even then, this applies to those animals that live in the lower part of the mountains. On average, mid-April is still rich in bark and branches of willow, mountain ash and other shrubs. In most of the habitats, until May, animals do not disdain melted grassy rags.
In the summer, all herbs, as they awaken from hibernation, become the food of this magnificent deer, whose name is maral. The Red Book of the Chelyabinsk region includes this animal not only because a person directly exterminates it, but also because the developmentagriculture and manufacturing reduces the areas where red deer can feed.
So, in the summer the maral chews almost everything that comes his way: juicy willow twigs, wormwood, reed grass, fescue, sedge, various cereals, plantain, wild rose, currants, sorrel and a huge amount of other plant foods growing on his way.
In September, the deer animal, the description of which implies that it eats a lot, already receives very little green food, eating mainly dry grass and willow shoots. At this time, animals try to find the most nutritious and juicy food in order to have some reserves of subcutaneous fat by winter. Often they happen to find fallen fruits of wild apple trees, which animals love very much.
October/November - still months of grass, but withered and withered. All shrub plants that have not yet lost their leaves turn out to be gnawed by deer - even conifers are used.
In winter, marals find dry grass stalks in the snow, but still rely more on the leaves and stems of hybrid stonecrop, because even in this harsh period they retain juiciness. Rowan shoots, needles, bark, branches of honeysuckle, raspberry, wild rose - these are the main food of the deer from November / December to March.
Reproduction
Maral is an animal that starts breeding rather late. They can start mating as early as fifteen months of age, but most females begin to bring calves only from the age of three. Males begin the formation of harems only from the age of five.age.
Usually, bulls start to show the first signs of arousal by the end of August. Along with this, they migrate to places where females with young animals graze. Around this period, adult bulls begin to roar.
Every year this happens in some places, most often in clearings, in mountain saddles and other similar areas. At first, the bulls keep apart, occasionally grappling with an opponent with their horns. Only adults enter the fight, the young go away from the opponent. In such tournaments, the animals practically do not harm each other, since, in fact, they just push each other.
At first, the females do not notice the roar, but gradually move closer to the bulls, somehow choosing the strongest. Perhaps the decisive factor is his voice and the development of his horns. Thus, the females decide for themselves whom they "marry".
After the formation of a harem, the male takes on his guard, driving away other bulls. Red deer - maral - most often has a harem of 2-3 females, but not more than five.
After fertilization, females live in an educated "family" for some time. The harem finally breaks up in October, as males begin to pay more attention to enhanced nutrition than females.
Maral's pregnancy lasts 236-255 days. The embryo is clearly visible already in a month or two. By the end of winter, specialists can already clearly determine the sex of the calf. By the time of birth, females find secluded places where they can hide a newborn - most often these are thickets of aspen, clearings and burnt areas.
Catel mainly occurs in May/June. The calf can see, run. Very rarely, females have two calves. Quite often you can see a grazing female with two calves, but this does not always mean the appearance of twins - rather, the second calf lost its mother and nailed to the one that was able to accept it.
However, despite the ability to move, the baby still cannot escape from the pursuers. Therefore, the female, noticing the approach of the enemy, tries to attract his attention with her person, after which she flees, leading the cub away from the place where the cub is lying.
Breeding
Maral is an animal useful to humans. Therefore, its breeding is carried out in special farms. The process of reproduction occurs naturally. These farms are organized mainly to obtain deer antlers. This is a very valuable product that is used in medicine. Previously, deer were killed for its prey, but now after its removal, the deer remains alive.
Pants are young deer horns that have not yet hardened. Remove them before the end of growth. They are harvested by cutting from a living animal. After that, it is boiled and dried. Canned antlers are a material for the manufacture of medicines, dietary supplements. Most of the antlers produced are purchased by China and South Korea.
In the wild, deer live relatively short - only 12-14 years, while in livestock farms they function up to 30 years. Maral breeding is most developed in Altai. This business differs from breeding domestic cattle only in the specifics of feed and location.pasture.
To get the highest quality antlers, it is necessary to graze animals at a certain height, providing them with at least two hundred kinds of different herbs. Winter foods also have a very important effect.
Ecology
Mountain forest-steppes are the most typical habitats for this species. It is these zones that allow him to gain the necessary weight for the winter, eating the most useful food. Among other deer, it is the deer that turns out to be the most herbivorous. It is for this reason that it is more difficult for him to survive in snowy winters, eating only branches. The red deer is food for wolves, bears, even lynxes and wolverines.
Abundance of the species
As already mentioned, the number of this species is constantly falling. This is not only due to natural causes, such as eating them by predators, a small amount of food in snowy winters, but also the influence of human activity. At present, this powerful and beautiful deer, the deer, is practically not found in the wild. The Red Book claims that its number in the wild is only a few thousand. If a person does not save a deer in reserves and farms, it will soon be simply impossible to meet him in wild forests.
Human use
In our country, only deer antlers are mainly used, which are dried and used in powder form in various medical preparations. However, in other countries, as well as among some peoples of our state, both blood and meat and skins of these animals are used. Maral blood is rich in proteins, micro- andmacronutrients, fats, nucleic acids, hormones, peptides, amino acids, vitamins, steroids and many other substances. Moreover, the blood of both the bodies of the deer and the vessels of the antlers is used - their biological activity is the same.
The price of animals - deer - in the Central Federal District and other areas is about 90,000 rubles per live individual. The prices of deer parts are not advertised by either sellers or buyers.
Protection measures
The most effective measure is the constant protection of animals wherever these individuals still remain. In addition, it is necessary to tighten the pen alties for the production of these ungulates. There are no such events in our time, so we may soon lose this amazing animal completely.
