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Oostvaardersplassen Koniks
The Oostvaardersplassen () is a nature reserve in the Netherlands, managed by the ''Staatsbosbeheer'' (state forestry service). Covering about in the province of Flevoland, it is an experiment in Rewilding (conservation biology), rewilding.Oostvaardersplassen is discussed, for example, in George Monbiot's book ''Feral: searching for enchantment on the frontiers of rewilding'' (2013). While being in favour of rewilding, Monbiot has doubts about this site's lack of tree cover and of predators. It is in a polder created in 1968; by 1989, its ecological interest had resulted in its being declared a Ramsar Convention, Ramsar wetland. It became part of Nieuw Land National Park when that was established in 2018. Geography The Oostvaardersplassen are located in the municipality of Lelystad, between the towns of Lelystad and Almere, in the province of Flevoland in the Netherlands. The area of is situated on the shore of the Markermeer in the center of the Flevopolder. The Oostvaarderspl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Konik
The Konik or Polish Konik, pl, konik polski, is a Polish List of horse breeds, breed of pony. There are semi-feral populations in some regions. They are usually dun gene, mouse dun or primitive markings, striped dun in color. The Bilgoray, pl, konik biłgorajski, of south-eastern Poland is a sub-type of the breed influenced by Arab horse, Arab and Thoroughbred blood; it is close to extinction. The extinct Sweyki or Schweike sub-type of East Prussia contributed to the development of the Trakehner. The word "konik" means 'small horse'. It may be used in a wider sense to describe the Polish Konik and other similar breeds, among them the Hutsul (horse), Hutsul of the Carpathian Mountains, the Polesian (horse), Polesian of Belarus and the Žemaitukas of Lithuania. Etymology The Polish word ''konik'' (plural ''koniki'') is the diminutive of ''koń'', the Polish word for "horse" (sometimes confused with ''kuc, kucyk'' meaning "pony"). It means 'small horse'. History The Ko ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Great Cormorant
The great cormorant (''Phalacrocorax carbo''), known as the black shag in New Zealand and formerly also known as the great black cormorant across the Northern Hemisphere, the black cormorant in Australia, and the large cormorant in India, is a widespread member of the cormorant family of seabirds. The genus name is Latinised Ancient Greek, from φαλακρός (''phalakros'', "bald") and κόραξ (''korax'', "raven"), and ''carbo'' is Latin for "charcoal". It breeds in much of the Old World, Australia, and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of North America. Taxonomy and etymology The long white-breasted cormorant ''P. c. lucidus'' found in sub-Saharan Africa, has a white neck and breast. It is often treated as a full species, ''Phalacrocorax lucidus'' (e.g. , ). In addition to the Australasian and African forms, ''Phalacrocorax carbo novaehollandiae'' and ''P. c. lucidus'' mentioned above, other geographically distinct subspecies are recognised, including ''P. c. sinensis' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aurochs
The aurochs (''Bos primigenius'') ( or ) is an extinct cattle species, considered to be the wild ancestor of modern domestic cattle. With a shoulder height of up to in bulls and in cows, it was one of the largest herbivores in the Holocene; it had massive elongated and broad horns that reached in length. The aurochs was part of the Pleistocene megafauna. It probably evolved in Asia and migrated west and north during warm interglacial periods. The oldest known aurochs fossils found in India and North Africa date to the Middle Pleistocene and in Europe to the Holstein interglacial. As indicated by fossil remains in Northern Europe, it reached Denmark and southern Sweden during the Holocene. The aurochs declined during the late Holocene due to habitat loss and hunting, and became extinct when the last individual died in 1627 in Jaktorów forest in Poland. The aurochs is depicted in Paleolithic cave paintings, Neolithic petroglyphs, Ancient Egyptian reliefs and Bronze ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wisent
The European bison (''Bison bonasus'') or the European wood bison, also known as the wisent ( or ), the zubr (), or sometimes colloquially as the European buffalo, is a European species of bison. It is one of two extant species of bison, alongside the American bison. The European bison is the heaviest wild land animal in Europe, and individuals in the past may have been even larger than their modern-day descendants. During late antiquity and the Middle Ages, bison became extinct in much of Europe and Asia, surviving into the 20th century only in northern-central Europe and the northern Caucasus Mountains. During the early years of the 20th century, bison were hunted to extinction in the wild. The species — now numbering several thousand and returned to the wild by captive breeding programmes — is no longer in immediate danger of extinction, but remains absent from most of its historical range. It is not to be confused with the aurochs (''Bos primigenius''), the extinct anc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tarpan
The term tarpan (''Equus ferus ferus'') refers to free-ranging horses of the Russian steppe from the 18th to the 20th century. It is generally unknown whether those horses represented genuine wild horses, feral domestic horses or hybrids. The last individual believed to be a tarpan died in captivity in the Russian Empire during 1909. Beginning in the 1930s, several attempts were made to develop horses that looked like tarpans through selective breeding, called "breeding back" by advocates. The breeds that resulted included the Heck horse, the , and a derivation of the Konik breed, all of which have a primitive appearance, particularly in having the grullo coat colour. Some of these horses are now commercially promoted as "tarpans", although such animals are only domestic breeds and not the wild animal themselves. Name and etymology The name "tarpan" or "tarpani" derives from a Turkic language ( Kazakh or Kyrgyz) name meaning "wild horse". The Tatars and the Cossacks distingui ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Castration
Castration is any action, surgical, chemical, or otherwise, by which an individual loses use of the testicles: the male gonad. Surgical castration is bilateral orchiectomy (excision of both testicles), while chemical castration uses pharmaceutical drugs to deactivate the testes. Castration causes sterilization (preventing the castrated person or animal from reproducing); it also greatly reduces the production of hormones, such as testosterone and estrogen. Surgical castration in animals is often called neutering. The term ''castration'' is sometimes also used to refer to the removal of the ovaries in the female, otherwise known as an oophorectomy, or the removal of internal testes, otherwise known as gonadectomy. The equivalent of castration for female animals is spaying. Estrogen levels drop following oophorectomy, and long-term effects of the reduction of sex hormones are significant throughout the body. Castration of animals is intended to favor a desired development of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Heck Cattle
Heck cattle are a hardy breed of domestic cattle. These cattle are the result of an attempt by Heinz and Lutz Heck to breed back the extinct aurochs (''Bos primigenius'') from modern aurochs-derived cattle in the 1920s and 1930s. Controversy revolves around methodology and success of the programme. There are considerable differences between Heck cattle and the aurochs in build, height, and body proportions. Furthermore, there are other cattle breeds which resemble their wild ancestors at least as much as Heck cattle.van Vuure, Cis (2005) ''Retracing the Aurochs - History, Morphology and Ecology of an extinct wild Ox''. History Heck cattle originated in Germany in the 1920s and 1930s in an attempt to breed back domestic cattle to their ancestral form: the aurochs (''Bos primigenius primigenius'').van Vuure, Cis (2005) Retracing the Aurochs - History, Morphology and Ecology of an extinct wild Ox. In the first years of the Weimar Republic, the brothers Heinz and Lutz ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Red Deer
The red deer (''Cervus elaphus'') is one of the largest deer species. A male red deer is called a stag or hart, and a female is called a hind. The red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Anatolia, Iran, and parts of western Asia. It also inhabits the Atlas Mountains of Northern Africa; its early ancestors are thought to have crossed over to Morocco, then to Algeria, Libya and Tunisia via the Strait of Gibraltar, becoming the only species of true deer (Cervidae) to inhabit Africa. Red deer have been introduced to other areas, including Australia, New Zealand, the United States, Canada, Peru, Uruguay, Chile and Argentina. In many parts of the world, the meat (venison) from red deer is used as a food source. Red deer are ruminants, characterized by a four-chambered stomach. Genetics, Genetic evidence indicates that the red deer, as traditionally defined, is a species group, rather than a single species, though exactly how many species the group includes rem ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Willow
Willows, also called sallows and osiers, from the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 400 speciesMabberley, D.J. 1997. The Plant Book, Cambridge University Press #2: Cambridge. of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions. Most species are known as willow, but some narrow-leaved shrub species are called osier, and some broader-leaved species are referred to as sallow (from Old English ''sealh'', related to the Latin word ''salix'', willow). Some willows (particularly arctic and alpine species) are low-growing or creeping shrubs; for example, the dwarf willow (''Salix herbacea'') rarely exceeds in height, though it spreads widely across the ground. Description Willows all have abundant watery bark sap, which is heavily charged with salicylic acid, soft, usually pliant, tough wood, slender branches, and large, fibrous, often stoloniferous roots. The roots are remarkable for their toughness, size, and tenacity to live ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Special Protection Area
A Special Protection Area (SPA) is a designation under the European Union Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds. Under the Directive, Member States of the European Union (EU) have a duty to safeguard the habitats of migratory birds and certain particularly threatened birds. Together with Special Areas of Conservation (SACs), the SPAs form a network of protected sites across the EU, called Natura 2000. Each SPA has an EU code – for example the North Norfolk Coast SPA has the code ''UK9009031''. In the United Kingdom As at 21 September 2006, there were 252 classified SPAs and 12 proposed SPAs in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Conservation (Natural Habitats etc.) Regulations 1994 implement the terms of the Directive in Scotland, England and Wales. In Great Britain, SPAs (and SACs) designated on land or in the intertidal area are normally also notified as Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs), and in Northern Ireland as Areas of Special Scientific ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eurasian Bittern
The Eurasian bittern or great bittern (''Botaurus stellaris'') is a wading bird in the bittern subfamily (Botaurinae) of the heron family Ardeidae. There are two subspecies, the northern race (''B. s. stellaris'') breeding in parts of Europe and across the Palearctic, as well as on the northern coast of Africa, while the southern race (''B. s. capensis'') is endemic to parts of southern Africa. It is a secretive bird, seldom seen in the open as it prefers to skulk in reed beds and thick vegetation near water bodies. Its presence is apparent in the spring, when the booming call of the male during the breeding season can be heard. It feeds on fish, small mammals, fledgling birds, amphibians, crustaceans and insects. The nest is usually built among reeds at the edge of bodies of water. The female incubates the clutch of eggs and feeds the young chicks, which leave the nest when about two weeks old. She continues to care for them until they are fully fledged some six weeks later. Wi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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