Sometimes, as a subspecies, it is included in the Cape Hare (Lepus capensis).

Appearance

Small hare, appearance resembling a small hare: body length 39-55 cm, weight 1.5-2.8 kg. The ears and legs are long, in relative size even longer than those of the hare. The length of the wedge-shaped tail is 7.5-11.6 cm, the length of the ear is 8.3-11.9 cm. The feet of the hind legs are rather narrow, this hare is not adapted to moving in deep snow. The color of the fur, in general, resembles the color of a light hare, but the fur does not have the characteristic waviness. Summer fur is gray with a brownish or buffy coating; the alternation of dark and light guard hairs creates a pronounced fine shading. The head is dark, the throat and belly are white; the tail is dark above, with a brush of stiff white hair at the end. The ears have dark tips. Winter fur is slightly lighter than summer fur, with pronounced streaks. Tolai sheds in spring and autumn. Spring molt begins in February-March and continues until May-June; autumn in different parts The range lasts from September to December. Due to the significant scatter of habitats, the timing of molting can be greatly extended. There are 48 chromosomes in the karyotype.

Spreading

Lives in deserts, semi-deserts and mountains Central Asia(Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan), Kazakhstan, South Siberia and Transbaikalia, Mongolia and Northeast China. The northern border of the range runs approximately along 48 ° N. sh. On the territory of Russia, the range consists of several isolated areas in the dry steppes and mountains of southern Siberia from Altai, the Chui steppe, the south of Buryatia and the Chita region to the upper Amur basin. In addition, it is occasionally found in the northeastern Caspian region, in the south of the Astrakhan region.

habitats

The most typical habitats are deserts and semi-deserts. Settles both on the plains and in the mountains, where it rises to 3000 m above sea level. m. (central Tien Shan, Pamir). Prefers sheltered areas with shrubs and tall herbaceous vegetation, including hilly sands with thickets of saxaul, sand acacia and tamarisk, gullies between hillocks, valleys of rivers and lakes, tugai forests. Found in irrigated lands. In the mountains, it lives along river valleys, in upland steppes, along the edges of forests. In the mountain-forest zone, the most favorable conditions for it are in juniper and walnut-fruit forests. It gravitates towards water bodies, although it can go without water for a long time. Rare in the clay desert, on salt marshes and barren takyrs. On the territory of Russia, the tolai hare is found in dry steppes overgrown with shrubs (karagana, chiy), with rock outcrops or placers of stones. It is very typical for river valleys and lake basins, where it keeps along the outskirts of shrubs. In some places it inhabits the edges of dry larch forests. In Altai and Sayan Mountains, it rises in the mountains to the bald belt, where it also keeps close to boulder screes.

Lifestyle

Tolai leads a sedentary lifestyle, making only short migrations associated with foraging, reproduction, pressure from predators, or adverse weather conditions. For example, in snowy winters, he moves to places with shallow snow cover, closer to settlements. After the establishment of a deep snow cover in the mountains, the tolai move down the slopes or make daily migrations to the valleys, where they feed in snow-free places. Under favorable conditions, tolai constantly lives in the same area, within which it has several haulouts and feeding (fatty) areas. The area of ​​the individual plot is about 2 hectares. lonely; temporary groups of up to 30 individuals form only during the rut and sometimes in winter period in convenient habitats. It is active mainly at dusk and at night, but during the periods of rutting and resettlement of young also during daylight hours. Sometimes it can feed during the day in cloudy weather, especially in high mountain areas where it is less likely to be disturbed. The beds are arranged in pits 5-15 cm deep (less often up to 60 cm), dug under the cover of bushes and stones; they are similar to hare beds, but slightly smaller in size. Sometimes it rests in abandoned burrows of marmots, ground squirrels, foxes, turtles. Young animals often hide in rodent burrows. Tolai burrows themselves, as a rule, do not dig, exceptions are found in sandy deserts where it digs shallow burrows about 50 cm long. Feeding places are sometimes located at a considerable distance from the beds and, going to fattening, hares sometimes tread well-marked paths. Returning to the bed, tolai, like all hares, confuses the tracks.

Nutrition

By the nature of nutrition, tolai is similar to a white hare. The main food for him are the green parts of plants, as well as roots and bulbs. In spring it feeds on roots and tubers of herbaceous plants and young grass; in deserts - juicy vegetative parts of ephemera. In summer, it feeds on a variety of herbaceous plants, preferring cereals and sedge, rarely eats wormwood. At the end of summer and autumn, seeds begin to play a significant role in nutrition; eats corn, barley and wheat in the fields. By winter, it passes to young shoots and bark of various trees and shrubs. Especially willingly eats tamarisk, chingil, whose branches, with a high number of tolais, are completely eaten on large areas. Less willingly eats branches of saxaul and sandy acacia. In places where the snow cover is low, tolai continues to feed on herbaceous plants, digging them out from under the snow.

reproduction

The rut takes place in different parts of the range in different time: in deserts, valleys and foothills - in January - February and lasts until July, in mountainous and high-mountainous regions - from March to August. During the rut, 3-5 males run after the female, between which there are fights, often accompanied by a piercing cry. On the territory of Russia, in the north of the range, tolai breed 1-2 times a year. The first rut here takes place at the end of February - March. Hares are born in 45-50 days, in April - early May, after which the second rut begins immediately. In Central Asia, the number of litters reaches 4 per year, and breeding ends in September. The number of rabbits in a litter is 1-9, in Russia it is usually 4-6; like other hares, the size of the brood depends on weather conditions, habitat, age of the female, etc. At the first lambing, there are more often 1-2 hares, at the second and third - 3-5. Hares are born in a hole or in a shallow hole; often, under the brood hole, females occupy marmot burrows. Newborns (weighing 85-110 g) are sighted, covered with thick hair with a dark stripe on the back. The growth and development of tolai cubs is similar to the development of cubs of European hares. Tolay hares become sexually mature the next year, at the age of 6-8 months.

Scientific classification:

The classic image of the little gray coward-bunny from the New Year's song about the Christmas tree has nothing to do with the tolai hare: this representative of the genus of hares is accustomed not to snow, but to sand. It is even called a sand hare. The color of the skin of this animal - gray, with an ocher bloom, slightly variegated - is designed for that. to merge with the sandy surface, and large, even by hare standards, ears, by increasing the area of ​​evaporation, serve to cool the body in desert heat.

An inhabitant of the steppes, deserts and semi-deserts, this hare is widespread in Central Asia and, in - in Altai, in the Chui steppe and in the steppes of Transbaikalia; it is also common in the desert-steppe regions of Northwest, Afghanistan and Northeast, in the deserts of Arabia and Northeast Africa. It is also found in the mountains, at an altitude of up to 3 thousand m - along river valleys, in upland steppes. The main thing for the tolai hare is the presence of desert spaces with bushes or clumps of tall grass, so that there is somewhere to hide.

At first glance, the tolai hare is like two drops of water similar to the brown hare, but a careful comparison reveals some differences. Tolai is smaller than a hare, but their ears and tail are of the same length and, relative to the body, are longer than those of other hares. He is simply a long-eared champion! Living in the sands, tolai does not change color for the winter: of course, she sheds, like other hares, in spring and autumn, but the fur retains a “sandy” color all year round, except that in winter it becomes a little lighter (however, like a hare). The head, tail and tips of the ears of the tolai are darker than the back (the hare has distinct black tips of the ears all year round), and the belly, throat and tip of the tail are white. In principle, the fur coat of this hare is almost the same as that of a light hare, but without the characteristic waviness. Another fundamental difference tolay - rather narrow feet of the hind legs, not similar to the "skis" of the hare and hare, which run in deep snow.

Fast legs and unpretentiousness in food help the tolai hare to master even the most meager landscapes. True, in the north of its range, where it is quite harsh winters, the animal gives offspring no more than twice a year, and sometimes only one. In Central Asia, where the food base is richer, hares appear at tolai up to four times a year. In any case, the existence of this species does not cause concern among zoologists; it is taken under protection only in Transbaikalia.

NOT COURAGE, BUT RESISTANCE

Tolai leads a sedentary life and rarely leaves his plot, which, as a rule, does not exceed 2 hectares. In the daytime, a cautious animal lies down for a day, so as not to catch the eye of predators once again. It is known that the hare, seeing the danger, is able to remain motionless in its shelter until the last and takes off running only when the predator detects it. It would be wrong to attribute such behavior to proverbial hare cowardice - rather, it speaks of enviable endurance and even composure. Shelters, the so-called lairs, are arranged by the most uncomplicated tolai: they slightly deepen the soil under a bush or a curtain of tall grass, and more often they simply occupy abandoned burrows of other animals: foxes, marmots, ground squirrels, and turtles in the desert.

SAFE DUSK

Sand hares are active mainly at night, when they are protected from at least one, and at the same time the most important danger in the steppe and desert - a feathered predator vigilantly watching the surface of the earth from the skies.

Under the cover of darkness, tolai go out to feed, while they feed mainly in the same places, so they manage to tread noticeable paths from the “bedroom” to the “dining room”. In search of a pair, hares also prefer to go after sunset.

HARE PASSION

The tournaments that the tolai males arrange during the rut make us take a different look at these cautious eared animals. Serious passions boil here! Sometimes up to five applicants fight for one female, and the one who intends to be the strongest has to defeat four. Males beat each other with their paws, bite on the ears and on the scruff of the neck, and, most surprisingly, scream piercingly. The cry of a hare is difficult to bear for the human ear, since it is very similar to the hysterical cry of a baby crying.

GENERAL CHILDREN

50 days after mating with a winning hare, the female tolai brings cubs (for the first time, one or two, then from three to five). Similar to cartoon characters, hares are born sighted and fluffy. They feed on mother's milk for a short time, only a few weeks, and then they switch to an adult diet - herbaceous plants. However, the definition of “mother's milk” needs to be clarified: it is not the mother who feeds the babies, but any hare running past. The fact is that females of the same population bring cubs almost simultaneously, so all the hares in the district are the same age. Literally right after the birth, the hare-mother leaves the babies alone. It is clear that this is by no means negligence, but, on the contrary, concern for offspring. The smell of an adult hare is able to attract a predator from which the mother cannot protect her cubs, and the rabbits themselves do not smell at all yet. Lying quietly in a shelter, they wait to be fed, and this will be done by any female running past. Despite the fact that the places of beds are well known to all the hares living in the neighborhood, not a single hare will be left without milk.

TOLAI HARE IN THE FOOD CHAIN

The main food of the tolai hare, like the white hare, is the green parts of plants, roots and bulbs. In summer, the animal feeds mainly on herbaceous plants, various grasses and sedges. In autumn it passes to seeds, and in winter - to young shoots and bark of various trees and shrubs, and, if possible, digs up herbaceous plants from under shallow snow.

NUTRITION OF THE HARE-TOLAY

LEONTICA DOUBTY

This herbaceous plant from the barberry family produces only 2-3 leaves. But what! Of two or three ovoid, large, up to 5 cm, fleshy plates. You don't see them very often in dry places. The fruits-boxes of leontitsa are also amazing - large purple balls, covered with a network of thin veins, are collected in a bundle.

BURACHOK DESERT

In the spring, ephemera are included in the diet of tolai. Among them is the desert beetroot. The stems of this plant from the cabbage family are not long, up to 20 cm, grayish from the hairs covering them, and the green leaves are narrow, small. But the beetroot forms dense thickets, in which there is something to eat.

COMBER BRANCH

A small tree or shrub from the tamarisk family, known in Russia as a god tree, and in Central Asia and Kazakhstan as jengil. The comb grows in deserts, semi-deserts and steppes, is able to survive on solonetzes and salt marshes, along the edges of takyrs and on dunes, is undemanding to soils and cold-resistant. One important requirement for this hardy plant is full sun. Even with a slight shading, the comber can die. Tiny pink or crimson flowers, collected in apical panicles, cover the branches so densely that leaves are sometimes not visible on the bush. Moreover, the leaves of the comb are scaly and very tiny, no more than 7 mm. But if not the whole bush has bloomed yet, it seems as if a pink cloud has descended on a delicate green crown. Animals, however, prefer not to admire the comb, but eat its thin branches and twigs.

CHINGIL

Deciduous salt- and drought-resistant shrub from the legume family, from 0.5 to 2-3 m high, with gray cracking bark and silvery leaves, especially good at the time of flowering. It was as if a large flock of delicate pink or pale purple butterflies had landed on a bush. In August-September, chingil transforms again: it is covered with leathery, swollen, many-seeded yellow-brown beans, which, opening up, take on the most intricate shapes. The handsome man is well protected: his thorns grow up to 6 cm. It is no coincidence that chingil is used to create hedges. Tolai manages, avoiding terrible thorns, not only to eat young shoots, but also to completely gnaw branches. However, the chingil is not so easy to damage. Its powerful and branched root system immediately gives a lot of new shoots.

ENEMIES OF HARE-TOLAI

STEPPE EAGLE

This predator from the hawk family is very beautiful. Dense brown, reddish plumage, dark tail and flight feathers, shaggy "pants" from which yellow paws stick out, beak curved by a hook, yellow at the base. In flight, with wide open huge wings (span - 3 m) and a fan-shaped tail, the eagle is simply magnificent. And the sitting bird has a proud and majestic look. But his fingers are not too strong, with short claws, so his prey is small in size: ground squirrels, hamsters, mice, voles, hares, birds, reptiles. During the hunt, the proud does not hesitate to run along the ground, skipping, only slightly flapping its wings. It is a pity that this small species is on the verge of extinction.

Tolai hare, talai, tulai or sandstone (from the Latin Lepus tolai) [animal kingdom > type of chordates > class of mammals > placental infraclass > order of lagomorphs] - a mammal, a representative of the hare family.

This species lives in Central Asia (Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan), in desert, semi-desert or mountainous areas. Also, this type of hares can be found in Southern Siberia, Transbaikalia, Mongolia and some regions of China. On the territory of Russia, tolai hares live only in Buryatia, Altai, the Chui steppe and the Astrakhan region.

Outwardly, these hares are not very large, especially compared to the hares. Body length reaches from 39 to 55 cm; weight can reach 1.5-2.5 kg. At the same time, the ears and tail are longer than those of the hare: the length of the ears is 8.3-11.9 cm, the length of the tail is 7.5-11.6 cm. The paws are quite narrow, therefore they are not adapted to movement in deep snow. The coloring also has a lot in common with the coloring of the hare, but in the tolai hare it is more monophonic. summer fur gray color with an ocher touch. The fur on the head, ears and tail always remains dark, and on the belly and throat it is white.

Like all other types of hares, the tolai hare molts twice a year: in spring and autumn. The moulting period can vary greatly from year to year, due to weather conditions and habitat. But speaking in general, but the spring molt lasts from late February to early June, and winter - from September to December.

Representatives of this species of hares live mainly in flat areas - deserts and semi-deserts. But in Central Asia they can be found in quite high mountains- 3000 m above sea level. For permanent habitat, tolai choose plains, which have a small number of trees or shrubs that serve as shelters. The most favorable places for the life of tolai are places located near the rises. The tolai hare leads a sedentary lifestyle and practically does not migrate, the only cases in which it can migrate is a lack of food or a sharp deterioration in weather conditions. For example, in winter they get quite close to settlements, or if they are mountain dwellers, then for the winter they descend from the mountains. These hares live alone, although sometimes they can gather in quite large groups- up to 30 individuals, the territory of which will be enough for the life of one individual is equal to only two hectares.

Tolai feeds mainly at night, in the same places. Unlike other species of hares, tolai very rarely digs holes himself, although even if he digs, they are very shallow - up to 50 cm. More often they find refuge in abandoned burrows of other animals - foxes, marmots, ground squirrels or turtles. The diet of the tolai hare also has much in common with the diet of the hare. They prefer herbaceous plants, seeds, roots and bulbs. various plants.
Tolai can also eat cereals and cultivated plants: corn, wheat and barley. In winter, most of the diet consists of solid food, such as bark and shoots of trees and shrubs. Due to the fact that the snow cover is very shallow in the habitat of the tolai, it does not stop searching for plant remains under the snow at all.

Tolai breeds a little less often than other types of hares - only 1-2 times a year, although sometimes it happens 4 times a year. A rabbit brings on average from 1 to 9 rabbits. The mass of hare tolay at birth reaches 85-110 g, they are also sighted and covered with thick fur. At first, they feed on mother's milk, and after a few weeks they feed on herbaceous plants completely independently. Rabbits reach sexual maturity at 6-8 months.

To date, hares of this subspecies are widely distributed in Asia and there are no reasons for a decrease in the population.

Varieties of hares living in the territory former USSR. Tolai hare (sandstone) lives in the steppes of Transbaikalia, in the steppes, semi-deserts and deserts of Central Asia and South Kazakhstan.

Distinctive features of the tolai hare (sandstone)

Habitats of the tolai hare (sandstone)

Distinctive features of the Manchurian hare

Habitat of the Manchurian hare