Four-not-alike photographed for the first time in Lishui, Zhejiang: what is it, and what protection level does it belong to?
In recent years, as the country has stepped up protection of wild animals and the natural environment, more and more nature reserves have captured precious wild animals on camera. Recently,Lishui in Zhejiang photographed a "four-not-alike" for the first time! So what is a four-not-alike? What protection level does it belong to?Let's find out together below.
1. Four-not-alike photographed for the first time in Lishui, Zhejiang!
On July 21, the Zhejiang Provincial Forestry Bureau reported that in the Liandu Fengyuan Nature Reserve in Lishui, an infrared monitoring camera captured a "four-not-alike" for the first time. The "four-not-alike" gets its name because its horns look like a deer's but it is not a deer, its hooves look like an ox's but it is not an ox, its head looks like a goat's but it is not a goat, and its tail looks like a donkey's but it is not a donkey. Its scientific name is the Chinese serow (liè), an animal of the family Bovidae and the genus Capricornis, and a national Class II key protected animal.
2. What animal is the four-not-alike?
1. Chinese serow
The four-not-alike photographed in Lishui refers to the Chinese serow. Its horns look like a deer's but it is not a deer, its hooves look like an ox's but it is not an ox, its head looks like a goat's but it is not a goat, and its tail looks like a donkey's but it is not a donkey, so it is also called the "four-not-alike."
It is mainly active at altitudes of 1000-4400 m in mixed broadleaf-conifer forests, coniferous forests or rocky scrub forest. They usually stay in the forest belt in winter and move to high-altitude cliff areas in summer. They live alone or in small groups, are mostly active in the morning and at dusk, move agilely, and run very quickly among scattered rocks. It is distributed in Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam.
2. Père David's deer
There is another animal also called the "four-not-alike," and that is Père David's deer. Because its head and face look like a horse's, its horns look like a deer's, its hooves look like an ox's, and its tail looks like a donkey's, it got the name four-not-alike. It is native to the marshlands of the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River in China, and feeds on green grass and aquatic plants. It is fond of living in groups, is good at swimming, and likes to feed on tender grass and aquatic plants. Courtship and estrus begin at the end of June and last about 6 weeks. It was once widely distributed in East Asia. Later, due to natural climate change and human factors, it was nearly extinct by the end of the Han Dynasty.
3. What protection level does the four-not-alike belong to?
1. Chinese serow
Listed in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (IUCN) 2008 ver3.1——Near Threatened (NT). Listed in the China Species Red List——Vulnerable (VU). Listed in the List of National Key Protected Wild Animals of China——Class II. Listed in the China Red Data Book of Endangered Animals——Vulnerable (VU). Listed in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)——Appendix I.
2. Père David's deer
Listed in the Washington Convention CITES Appendix I protected animal.
Listed in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (IUCN) 2016 ver3.1——Extinct in the Wild (EW).
Listed in the List of National Key Protected Wild Animals of China as Class I.
Although this time only one "four-not-alike" was photographed in Lishui, Zhejiang, it also shows that the environment of our country's nature reserves is gradually improving, which is very beneficial for protecting biodiversity.