歐洲野牛

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編輯

歐洲野牛

保育等級

瀕危 (IUCN 版本2.3)

分類

界：	動物界 Animalia
門：	脊索動物門 Chordata
綱：	哺乳綱 Mammalia
目：	偶蹄目 Artiodactyla
科：	牛科 Bovidae
亞科：	牛亚科 Bovinae
屬：	美洲野牛属 Bison
種：	歐洲野牛 B. bonasus

學名

Bison bonasus
(Linnaeus, 1758)

歐洲野牛為美洲野牛屬內的一種，且為歐洲最重的陸上動物。一般的歐洲野牛約長2.9公尺，高1.8至2公尺，重300至1000公斤。比同屬的美洲野牛較瘦及較輕，且在頸部、頭部和前半部的毛髮都較短。歐洲野牛居住在森林裡。於十九世紀的一些文獻可知其掠食者只有狼和熊。歐洲野牛第一次被科學地記載是在1758年由卡爾·林奈所完成。後來有一些記載將其和美洲野牛視為同種的。它和原牛不同。(在英語裡，原牛的英文名稱aurochs亦被用來指歐洲野牛。)

其現在為瀕危物種。在過去，它們常被殺來製成皮革和角杯

[编辑] 瀕臨絕種

在西歐，歐洲野牛除了亞耳丁之外的其他地區都絕跡了，但只維持至14世紀。最後一頭歐洲野牛死於1790年的川西凡尼亞。

比亞沃維耶森林內的歐洲野牛

在東歐，歐洲野牛被規定為波蘭君主、立陶宛君主及俄國君主的財產。波蘭國王西格蒙德一世在16世紀中葉下令盜獵歐洲野牛為死刑。儘管有這些措施，歐洲野牛的數量在接下來的四個世紀間依然持續地下降著。波蘭的最後一頭野生歐洲野牛於1919年被殺，而世上最後一頭野生歐洲野牛於1927年在西高加索被屠夫所殺。那個年代的歐洲野牛剩下不到50頭，全部都在動物園裡。

在1951年，欧洲野牛开始被重新放归大自然。They are found living free-ranging in forest preserves like Western Caucasus in 俄羅斯 and Białowieża Forest in 波蘭 and Belarus. Free-ranging herds are found in Poland, Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine, Russia and Kyrgyzstan. Zoos in 30 countries also have quite a few animals. There were 3000 individuals as of 2000, all descended from only 12 individuals. Because of their limited genetic pool, they are considered highly vulnerable to diseases like foot and mouth disease.

Wisents are now found in the 30km exclusion zone around Chernobyl. As with other animals, it seems that the benefits of removing people from the zone have far outweighed any harm from radiation. ^[1]

In 1996 the IUCN classified the wisent as endangered.

[编辑] 更多細節

動物園內的歐洲野牛

Wisent have lived as long as 28 years in captivity although in the wild their lifespan is shorter. Productive breeding years are between 4 and 20 years old in females and only between 6 and 12 years old in males. Wisent occupy home ranges of as much as 100 square kilometers and some herds are found to prefer meadows and open areas in forests.

Wisent can cross-breed with American Bison. The products of a German interbreeding program were destroyed after World War II. This program was related to the impulse which created the Heck cattle. The cross-bred individuals created at other zoos were eliminated from breed books by the 1950s. A Russian back-breeding program resulted in a wild herd of hybrid animals which presently lives in the Caucasian Biosphere Reserve (550 individuals in 1999).

年幼的歐洲野牛

There are also bison-wisent-cattle hybrids. In 1847 a herd of wisent-cattle hybrids named żubroń was created by Leopold Walicki. The animal was to become a durable and cheap alternative to cattle. The experiment was continued by researchers from the Polish Academy of Sciences until the late 1980s. Although the program resulted in a quite successful animal that was both hardy and could be bred in marginal grazing lands, it was eventually discontinued. Currently the only surviving żubroń herd consists of just a few animals in Bialowieza Forest, Poland.

Three sub-species have been identified:

Lowland bison - Bison bonasus bonasus (Linneus, 1758) – (from Białowieża Forest)
Hungarian (Carpathian) bison - Bison bonasus hungarorum - extinct
Caucasus bison - Bison bonasus caucasicus - extinct, although one individual, a bull named Kaukasus was one of the 12 founders of the modern herds

The modern herds are managed as two separate lines - one consisting of only Bison bonasus bonasus (all descended from only 7 animals) and one consisting of all 12 ancestors including the one Bison bonasus caucasicus bull. Only a limited amount of inbreeding depression from the population bottleneck has been found, having a small effect on skeletal growth in cows and a small rise in calf mortality. Genetic variability continues to shrink. From 5 initial bulls, all current wisent bulls have one of only two remaining Y chromosomes.

[编辑] 逸事

1969年蘇聯郵票上的兩頭歐洲野牛

歐洲野牛(or Zubr in Slavic languages) 是白俄羅斯最大型的野生動物。
A wisent head (sometimes identified with an aurochs) featured on Moldavia's state symbols, a depiction connected with the legend of the country's foundation.
Żubrówka Polish vodka is indirectly named after this animal (żubr in Polish). Each bottle contains a stalk of "bison grass", which produces a slighly yellowish colour and a distinctive flavour.