Takin

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Takin

Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Family: Bovidae
Subfamily: Caprinae
Genus: Budorcas
Species: B. taxicolor
Binomial name
Budorcas taxicolor
Hodgson, 1850

The Takin (Budorcas taxicolor) is a goat-antelope found in the Eastern Himalayas. There are four subspecies: B. taxicolor taxicolor, the Mishmi Takin; B. taxicolor bedfordi, the Shensi or Golden Takin; B. taxicolor tibetana, the Tibetan or Sichuan Takin; and B. taxicolor whitei, the Bhutan Takin. Mitochondrial research[1] shows that takin are related to sheep, its similarity to the muskox being an example of convergent evolution. The takin is the national animal of Bhutan.

A Takin in Korkeasaari Zoo, Helsinki, Finland
A Takin in Korkeasaari Zoo, Helsinki, Finland
A baby Takin in the Lincoln Park Zoo, Chicago, Illinois
A baby Takin in the Lincoln Park Zoo, Chicago, Illinois

Takin stand 110 to 120 centimetres (3 to 4 feet) at the shoulder and weigh up to 350 kg.[2] They have been likened to a "bee-stung moose", because of the swollen appearance of the face. They are covered in a thick golden wool which turns black on the under-belly. Both sexes have small horns which run parallel to the skull and then turn upwards in a short point, these are around 30 centimetres long.

Takin are found in bamboo forests at altitudes of 2,000 to 4,500 metres - where they eat grass, buds and leaves. Takin are diurnal, active in the day, resting in the heat on particularly sunny days. Takin gather in small herds in winter and herds of up to a hundred individuals in the summer, old males are solitary.

Some theorise that the Takin may be the source of the Golden Fleece in Greek mythology.

The reason for Bhutan selecting the Takin as the national animal is based on both its uniqueness and its strong association with the country's religious history and mythology. According to legend, when the great saint Lama Drukpa Kunley (called "the divine madman") visited Bhutan in the 15th century, a large congregation of devotees gathered around the country to witness his magical powers. The people urged the lama to perform a miracle. However, the saint, in his usual unorthodox and outrageous way, demanded that he first be served a whole cow and a goat for lunch. He devoured these with relish and left only bones. After letting out a large and satisfied burp, he took the goat's head and stuck it onto the bones of the cow. And then with a snap of his fingers, he commanded the strange beast to rise up and graze on the mountainside. To the astonishment of the people the animal arose and ran up to the meadows to graze. This animal came to be known as the dong gyem tsey (takin) and to this day, these animals can be seen grazing on the mountainsides of Bhutan.

[edit] Photos

[1] [2] [3] [4] [5]

A Takin at the San Diego Zoo

Takin at the Paris Menagerie.

[edit] References

  1. ^ [http://www.uaf.edu/lars/document_links/doclink20.html Pamela Groves and R.G. White, "The Takin And Muskox: Relationship musk not be takin for granted", Institute of Arctic Biology, University of Alaska Fairbanks
  2. ^ WWF: Takin

[edit] External links