What animals and plants live in the mountains. Highlands. Name and amazing on the planet

Change vegetation zones from the foot to the top of the mountains is very similar to the change of vegetation on the way to the poles. The higher you go into the mountains, the colder it becomes: every 90 m the air temperature drops by about 0.55 C. Below the mountains are covered with deciduous forests.

They are followed coniferous forests, then alpine meadows and bushes, and on the peaks there is only ice and stones. Animals living in the mountains are forced to endure low temperatures, squally winds and very bright sun. Many species of mountain inhabitants move higher into the mountains in the spring and return to warmer valleys in the winter. Some have adapted well to the environment and all year round remain high in the mountains. Some insects, such as springtails, can survive in ice for up to three years.

mountain animals

Yaks

In the Himalayas, in the mountains and on the high plains at an altitude of about 4000 m, large, strong animals live - yaks. Thick fur protects them from the piercing cold. Yaks need a lot of water. In winter, they sometimes even eat snow. Since yaks were previously hunted very actively, wild yaks have practically disappeared. They are now kept as pets, providing milk, meat and hides. Herds of yaks graze in the high mountain meadows.

Mountain goats

On the border of snow high in the mountains, between the rocks, mountain goats feel at home. Here they are not threatened by any predators, such as wolves. Widely spread hooves with soft rims allow animals to hold on to bare rocks. Just a few days after birth, little kids can follow their mother up steep cliffs and jump from ledge to ledge.

Chamois, distant relatives of the American snow goats, live among the rocks in the mountains of Europe. Higher up the slope live bearded goats with long, curved back horns. Other mountain ungulates include the shaggy Himalayan tahr, a close relative of the bearded goat, and mountain sheep: mouflon in Europe and bighorn sheep in North America.

Puma

The puma is one of the largest felines on the American continent. Cougars live between British Columbia and South America. They are found in regions with completely different conditions life - from coastal forests and swamps to peaks about 4500 m high. Since at one time they were hunted uncontrollably in North America, pumas now prefer to live secludedly in the Andes and the area around Rocky Mountains. Cougars are solitary animals. They mark their hunting territory, which is about 400 sq km, and protect it from their relatives.

Gorilla

The mountainous regions near the equator have a completely different climate and different vegetation. Below the high alpine meadows are bamboo forests - the homeland of gorillas. Gorilla is one of the most large mammals tropical montane forests of Western and Central Africa. There are only 500 to 1,000 free-living gorillas in the forests and the species is critically endangered. Many of the forests where these monkeys live are being uprooted for agricultural purposes, and the monkeys are also hunted illegally. Gorilla skulls, skins and hands are sold in African markets as souvenir trophies.

mountain birds

In the mountains find shelters, roosts and nesting territories, some of the most large birds. One of them, the Andean condor, whose wingspan reaches 3 m, breeds its chicks on inaccessible rocks from Venezuela to Tierra del Fuego. Condors are classified as American vultures. Feeding, like other vultures, on carrion, Andean condors often fly to the shores of the ocean, where they can find dead fish.

The California condor is only slightly smaller in size than the Andean condor. These days, this bird lives only in a nature reserve located in the coastal mountains of California. Poor reproduction (the female lays only one egg every two years), poachers and destruction of natural habitats have brought this species to the brink of extinction.

In the inaccessible mountainous regions of Europe, Asia and Africa, the bearded vulture, or vulture, struggles for survival. This bird not only looks unusual (its head is decorated with a beard - hence the name), there is also a lot of surprise in the way it feeds. You can often see a bearded man carrying a bone in his paws, like an osprey catching a fish. The bird breaks the bone by dropping it from a height, and then descends to the ground to feast on the bone marrow.

Of course, American vultures are not the only birds that live in the mountains. The golden eagle, whose flight is a breathtaking spectacle, is common in temperate zone in the Northern Hemisphere. There are also many more living in the mountains small birds, including the mountain finch and white-tailed partridge in North America, the hummingbird - the Andean mountain star - in South America, Mongolian snow finch and red-winged wallcreeper in Eurasia, malachite sunbird in Africa.

Golden eagles live in the mountains and plains North America, Asia and Europe. These are the big ones predator birds, whose wingspan reaches 2 m. They are excellent glider pilots and know how to use rising air currents, soaring for hours at a height without flapping their wings. Golden eagles nest on high rocks or separately standing trees. These birds have very keen eyes, which allows them to spot prey from afar.

Who lives in the mountains in winter

Some predators, including the Himalayan Snow Leopard, go down in winter, where it is warmer. Wapiti (the North American race of red deer) and many other large animals do the same. But not everyone makes such vertical migrations when winter comes. Voles, for example, remain in place and dig holes in deep snow. The temperature in such burrows is sometimes 40° higher than outside, and the roots and other plant food They provide the animals with food all winter. Hares are active almost throughout the cold season, as in summer. They feed on bark and branches and find shelter under snow-covered spruce or fir trees.

Where there are hot springs, animals take advantage of the benefits it provides. Bison in Yellowstone national park in USA, mountain sheep And Japanese macaques with the approach of cold weather, they move to hot springs and warmed areas of the earth around them. There they feed on green vegetation all winter and enjoy the surroundings. reminiscent of a steam room.

Living conditions in the mountains are very different from those on the plains. As you ascend into the mountains, the climate changes rapidly: the temperature drops, the amount of precipitation increases, and the air becomes thinner. The nature of the vegetation also changes from the foot of the mountains to the peaks.

On some mountains Central Asia desert and steppe foothills are gradually replaced by forest; At first it is dominated by deciduous and then coniferous species. Higher up, the forest gives way to low-growing, subalpine crooked forests and thickets of bushes that curve down the slope. Alpine low-growing vegetation begins even higher, vaguely reminiscent of the vegetation of the northern tundra. The Alpine zone is directly bordered by snow fields, glaciers and rocks; there, among the stones, only rare grass and lichens are found (see article "").

Vegetation on the mountains changes over just a few thousand meters. This phenomenon is called vertical zoning. This change in vegetation is similar to latitudinal zonality nature on Earth: deserts and steppes give way to forests, forests to forest-tundra and tundra - but latitudinal zones stretch over hundreds and thousands of kilometers.

Natural conditions in the mountains change not only with height, but also when moving from one slope to another, sometimes even to an adjacent section of the same slope, if it has a different position in relation to the cardinal points, a different steepness, or is otherwise open to the winds. All this creates an exceptional diversity of living conditions in areas of the mountains close to each other.

The diversity of living conditions contributes to the fact that the mountains are inhabited by many species of animals. By number of mountain animal species forest zone the richest. The highlands are much poorer in them. The living conditions there are too harsh: frosts are possible at night even in summer, the winds are stronger here, winter is longer, there is less food, and very high altitude The air is thin and there is little oxygen in it. The higher you go in the mountains, the fewer species animals - this is typical for most mountainous countries.

The most elevated parts of the high mountains are covered with eternal snow and are almost completely devoid of life. Only small insects live there - podurs, also called glacier fleas and. They feed on pollen coniferous trees, carried there by the wind.

Mountain goats and sheep can go very high into the mountains - almost up to 6000 m. Of the vertebrate animals, only vultures and eagles penetrate above them, and occasionally other smaller birds fly in. In 1953, while climbing Chomolungma (Everest), climbers saw choughs - close relatives of our crows - at an altitude of 7900 m.

Some animals, such as crows and hares, are found in almost all mountain zones; Most animals live in only a few or even one zone. For example, bullfinches and yellow-headed wrens nest in the Caucasus mountains only in the zone dark coniferous forests formed by fir and spruce.

On the mountains, each vertical zone has its own animal world, to some extent similar to the fauna of the corresponding latitudinal zones of the Earth.

The tundra partridge lives on the northern coast of Siberia and on the Arctic islands, but is also found in the alpine zone of the mountains of Europe and Asia, where living conditions are most similar to the Arctic. In the alpine zone of the mountains there are also some other animals common in the Arctic, for example in the mountains of Southern Siberia and East Asia reindeer live.

The fauna of the alpine zone is most unique, where many animals unknown on the plains are found: various species of mountain goats (in Western Europe- stone ibex, in the Caucasus - tur, in the mountains of Asia - Siberian ibex), chamois, Asian red wolf, some rodents, vulture, mountain turkey, or snowcock, alpine jackdaw, etc.

Interestingly, the fauna of the alpine zone in Europe, Asia, North America and northern Africa is general outline homogeneous This is explained by the fact that in the highlands of different parts of the world living conditions are very similar.

Many mountain animals live only where there are rocks. Musk deer, mountain goats and goral antelope escape from predators in the rocks. The red-winged wallcreeper, rock pigeon and swift find convenient nesting sites there. Now on many mountains you can find argali and other wild sheep in the rocks. This is apparently caused by long-term pursuit of them by hunters. Where wild sheep are little disturbed, they prefer to live on relatively gentle slopes, and only bighorn sheep, or chubuk, living in the mountains of Northeast Asia, has a lifestyle very similar to mountain goats.

Screes form in many mountains; The life of interesting animals is connected with them - the snow vole and the mountain pika (otherwise known as hay pika). These rodents prepare small piles of hay for winter. Starting from the second half of summer, especially in autumn, the animals diligently collect blades of grass and twigs of bushes with leaves, dry them and place them under a shelter of stones.

The unique living conditions in the mountains affected appearance animals, on their body shapes, their lifestyle and habits. Many generations of these animals lived in the mountains, and therefore they developed characteristic adaptations that helped in the struggle for existence. For example, mountain goats, chamois, American snow goats, and bighorn sheep have large, mobile hooves that can move widely apart. Along the edges of the hooves - from the sides and in front - there is a well-defined protrusion (welt), and the pads of the toes are relatively soft. All this allows animals to cling to barely noticeable irregularities when moving along rocks and steep slopes, and not to slip when running on icy snow. The horny substance of their hooves is very strong and grows quickly, so the hooves never “wear out” from being abraded by sharp stones. The legs of mountain ungulates allow them to make strong jumps on steep slopes and quickly reach rocks where they can hide from persecution.

During the day, rising air currents predominate in the mountains. This favors the soaring flight of large birds - bearded vultures, large eagles and vultures. Soaring in the air, they search for carrion or live prey for a long time. Mountains are also characterized by birds with fast, swift flight: Caucasian mountain grouse, mountain turkey, and swift.

There is constant wind in the mountains strong winds. They make life difficult for flying insects. The wind often carries them to snow fields and glaciers - places unsuitable for insect life, where they die. As a result of long natural selection Species of insects arose in the mountains with greatly shortened, underdeveloped wings, completely losing the ability to actively fly. The closest relatives of these insects, living on the plains, are winged and can fly.

In the summer it is cold high in the mountains, so there are almost no reptiles there: after all, most of them are heat-loving. Viviparous species of reptiles penetrate the mountains higher than others: some lizards, vipers, and in northern Africa - chameleons. In Tibet, at an altitude of more than 5000 m, the viviparous round-headed lizard is found. Roundheads living on the plains, where the climate is warmer, lay eggs.

On the plains, moth butterflies are active both at dusk and at night; in the highlands they lead a diurnal lifestyle: at night the air is too cold for them.

Some species of butterflies, bumblebees and wasps that live high in the mountains have dense pubescence on their bodies - this reduces heat loss. The lush plumage of mountain birds and the thick fur of animals also protects animals from the cold. For someone living on high mountains The Asian snow leopard has unusually long and lush fur, while its tropical relative the leopard has short and sparse fur. Animals living in the mountains shed much later in the spring than animals on the plains, and in the fall their fur begins to grow earlier.

One of the remarkable adaptations caused by living conditions in the mountains is vertical migrations, or migrations.

In autumn, when it gets cold high in the mountains, snowfalls begin and, most importantly, it becomes difficult to obtain food, many animals migrate lower down the mountain slopes.

A significant part of the birds living in the mountains of the Northern Hemisphere fly south for the winter. Of the birds that remain in the mountains for the winter, most descend to the lower zones, often to the very foothills and surrounding plains. Very few birds, such as the mountain turkey, winter at high altitudes.

Deer, roe deer and wild boar are found in the mountains up to the alpine meadows; in autumn they descend into the forest. This is also where most chamois go for the winter. Mountain goats migrate to the forested part of the mountains and settle here on steep rocky slopes. Sometimes they move to the southern slopes, where alpine meadows the snow melts in the very first hours or days after a snowfall, or on steeper windward slopes, where the snow is simply blown away by the winds. Following the wild ungulates, the predators that hunt them migrate - wolves, lynxes, snow leopards.

Diversity natural conditions in the mountains allows animals to find places for wintering near the areas where they live in the summer. Therefore, the seasonal migrations of animals in the mountains, as a rule, are much shorter than the migrations of animals and birds on the plains. In the mountains of Altai, Sayan and North-Eastern Siberia, wild reindeer make seasonal migrations of only a few tens of kilometers, and deer living in the far north sometimes travel a thousand kilometers to reach their wintering grounds.

In the spring, as the snow melts, the animals that have descended migrate to the upper zones of the mountains. Among wild ungulates, adult males are the first to rise, followed by females with recently born, not yet strong enough babies.

Chamois, mountain goats, wild sheep and other ungulates living in the mountains often die in winter and in early spring during snowfalls. In the Alps in the winter of 1905-1906. one of snow avalanches A herd of chamois was buried - about 70 heads.

IN Caucasian Nature Reserve managed to observe aurochs during heavy snowfall. Snow avalanches were falling from the opposite slope of the gorge. But the tours, usually very careful, did not pay attention to this. Apparently, they were accustomed to the menacing sounds of a snowfall.

When there is a lot of snow in the mountains, it is very difficult for the ungulates: it prevents them not only from moving, but also from getting food. In the mountains of the Western Caucasus in 1931 -1932. It was a very snowy winter. The layer of snow in some places exceeded 6 m. Many deer, roe deer and other animals migrated to the lower parts of the mountains, where the snow cover was less. This winter, roe deer ran into villages and were easily captured. They were caught and kept in barns along with livestock until the snow melted in the mountains.

At the end of December 1936, snowfall in the Caucasus Nature Reserve continued for four days. U upper limit forest layer new loose snow reached a meter. The reserve's scientific staff went out to investigate the snow conditions and noticed a fresh, deep path leading down the slope. They skied down along this trail and soon overtook a large auroch. Only a head with horns was visible from the snow.

The tour was so helpless that one of the employees could even take liberties with him - he sat on a wild tour astride! Another employee took a photograph of the scene. They helped Tur out of the snow and he left. The next day, his traces were found much lower - in the forest on a steep slope, where the aurochs could feed on lichens hanging from fir branches.

Some species of mountain animals have good hair and edible meat. They can be used for breeding with domestic animals. Interesting experiments were carried out in the Soviet Union: aurochs and bezoar goats were crossed with domestic goats, argali and mouflons were crossed with domestic sheep.

From mountain animals to different time and in different parts Around the world, man domesticated the goat, in Asia - the yak, in South America - the llama. The yak and llama are used in the mountains mainly for carrying loads; female yak produce very rich milk.

Animals of the mountains have not been studied enough, many interesting pages from their lives have not yet been read by anyone and are awaiting young inquisitive naturalists. The following reserves provide exceptional opportunities for observing the life of wild animals in the mountains: Caucasian, Crimean, Teberdinsky, Aksu-Dzhabaglinsky (Western Tien Shan), Sikhote-Alinsky and others (see article "").

If you find an error, please highlight a piece of text and click Ctrl+Enter.

Living conditions in the mountains are very different from those on the plains. As you rise into the mountains, the climate changes: the temperature drops, the wind strength increases, the air becomes thinner, and winter becomes longer.
The nature of the vegetation from the foot of the mountains to the peaks is also different. In the mountains of Central Asia, desert and steppe foothills usually give way to forest, which is first dominated by deciduous and then coniferous species. Higher up there is a low-growing, curved downslope subalpine forest and thickets of bushes. Alpine low-growing vegetation begins even higher, vaguely reminiscent of the vegetation of the northern tundra. The Alpine mountain belt is directly bordered by snow fields, glaciers and rocks; there, among the stones, only rare grass, moss and lichens are found.
The change of vegetation in the mountains occurs over just a few thousand meters, counting vertically. This phenomenon is called vertical zoning or zonation. This change in vegetation is in the most general terms similar to the latitudinal zonation of nature on Earth: deserts and steppes are replaced by forests, forests by forest-tundra and tundra.
Natural conditions in the mountains change not only with height, but also when moving from one slope to another. Sometimes even neighboring sections of the same slope have different natural conditions. It all depends on the position of the site in relation to the cardinal points, on its steepness and on how open it is to the winds.
The diversity of living conditions contributes to the fact that the mountains are inhabited by many species of animals. In terms of the number of species of mountain animals, the forest belt of the mountains is the richest. The highlands are much poorer in them. The living conditions there are too harsh: even in summer, frosts are possible at night, and there is little food. Therefore, the higher you go in the mountains, the fewer animal species there are usually. The most elevated parts of the high mountains are covered with eternal snow and are almost completely devoid of life.
Very high in the mountains - almost up to 6 thousand m - mountain goats and sheep come; Occasionally, a mountain leopard, the snow leopard, comes up here after them. Of the vertebrate animals, only vultures, eagles and some other birds penetrate even higher. The bearded vulture was seen in the Himalayas at an altitude of almost 7 thousand m, and the condor was seen in the Andes at an even higher altitude. When climbing Chomolungma (Everest), climbers observed choughs - close relatives of our crows - at an altitude of 8100 m.
Some animals, particularly crows and hares, are found in almost all mountain zones, but most species live in only a few or even one zone. For example, bullfinches and yellow-headed wrens nest in the Caucasus Mountains only in the belt of dark coniferous forests formed by fir and spruce.

Irbis or snow leopard.

On the mountains, each vertical zone has its own fauna, which is to some extent similar to the fauna of the corresponding latitudinal zones of the Earth. Animals of the mountain forest belt resemble animals deciduous forests and taiga.

Argali.

The tundra partridge, living on the northern coast of Siberia and on the Arctic islands, is also found in the alpine belt of the mountains of Europe and Asia, where living conditions are similar to the Arctic. Some other animals common in the Arctic also live in the alpine mountain belt: for example, reindeer live in the mountains of Southern Siberia and East Asia. The habitats of deer in Altai are located in most cases not lower than 1500 m above sea level, that is, mainly in the subalpine and alpine mountain belts, where moss and other terrestrial lichens grow in abundance. IN winter time when in reindeer's diet great importance have moss and other lichens, important role The nature of the snow cover plays a role in the choice of habitat. If the snow is too deep and dense, then ground lichens are inaccessible to deer. In winter, the treeless slopes of the mountains of the Alpine belt are most favorable for the life of deer, where snow is blown away by the winds and melts in the sun on clear days.
The fauna of the Alpine belt is very peculiar, where many animals unknown on the plains are found: various species of mountain goats (in Western Europe - the Alpine ibex, in the Caucasus - the tur, in the mountains of Asia - the Siberian mountain goat), chamois, Asian red wolf, some rodents, vultures, mountain turkey, or snowcock, alpine jackdaw, etc.
The fauna in the alpine belt of the mountains of Europe, Asia, North America and northern Africa is generally homogeneous. This is explained by the fact that in the highlands of the northern hemisphere, living conditions are very similar.
Many mountain animals live only where there are rocks. Musk deer, mountain goats, Chubuk bighorn sheep, argali and goral antelope escape from predators in the rocks. Birds - rock pigeon, swifts and red-winged wallcreeper - find convenient nesting places there. The wall climber crawls along steep rocks like a woodpecker along a tree trunk. With its fluttering flight, this small bird with bright crimson wings resembles a butterfly. In dry, sunny areas of the mountains, chukar are often found.
Screes form in many mountains; The life of such animals as the snow vole and the mountain pika (otherwise known as the hay pika) is associated with them. Starting from the second half of summer, especially in autumn, these animals diligently collect blades of grass and twigs of bushes with leaves, lay them out on stones to dry, and then carry the hay under a shelter made of stones.
The peculiar natural conditions of life in the mountains affected the appearance of the animals that constantly live there, their body shapes, lifestyle and habits. They have developed characteristic adaptations that help in the struggle for existence. For example, mountain goats, chamois, and American snow goats have large, mobile hooves that can move widely apart. Along the edges of the hooves - from the sides and in front - there is a well-defined protrusion (welt), and the pads of the toes are relatively soft. All this allows animals, when moving along rocks and steep slopes, to cling to barely noticeable irregularities and not slip when running on icy snow. The horny substance of their hooves is very strong and grows quickly, so the hooves never “wear out” from being abraded by sharp stones. The structure of the legs of mountain ungulates allows them to make large jumps on steep slopes and quickly reach rocks where they can hide from persecution.

Siberian mountain goat.

During the day, rising air currents predominate in the mountains. This favors the soaring flight of large birds - bearded vultures, eagles and vultures. Soaring in the air, they search for carrion or live prey for a long time. The mountains are also characterized by birds with fast, swift flight: Caucasian mountain grouse, mountain turkey, swifts.
In the summer it is cold high in the mountains, so there are almost no reptiles there: after all, most of them are heat-loving. Only viviparous species of reptiles penetrate higher than others: some lizards, vipers, and in northern Africa - chameleons. In Tibet, at an altitude of more than 5 thousand m, the viviparous round-headed lizard is found. Roundheads living on the plains, where the climate is warmer, lay eggs.
The lush plumage of mountain birds and the thick fur of animals protect them from the cold. The snow leopard, which lives in the high mountains of Asia, has unusually long and lush fur, while its tropical relative, the leopard, has short and sparse fur. Animals living in the mountains shed much later in the spring than animals on the plains, and in the fall their fur begins to grow earlier.
Hummingbirds in the Andean highlands of South America nest in caves in large groups, which helps keep the birds warm. On cold nights, hummingbirds fall into torpor, thus minimizing energy expenditure on heating the body, the temperature of which can drop to +14°.
One of the remarkable adaptations to life in the mountains is vertical migrations, or migrations. With the onset of autumn, when it becomes cold high in the mountains, snowfalls begin and, most importantly, it becomes difficult to obtain food, many animals migrate lower down the mountain slopes.
A significant part of the birds living in the mountains of the northern hemisphere fly south at this time. Most birds that remain to winter in the mountains descend to the lower zones, often to the very foothills and surrounding plains. Very few birds, such as the mountain turkey, winter at high altitudes. It usually stays near places where aurochs graze. The snow here is sometimes dug up by their hooves, and it is easier for the bird to find food. The loud, alarming cry of a wary snowcock warns the aurochs of danger.

Mountain partridge partridges.

Deer, roe deer and wild boar, found in the mountains up to the alpine meadows, descend into the forest in the fall. This is also where most chamois go for the winter. Mountain goats migrate to the forested part of the mountains and settle here on steep rocky slopes. Sometimes they move to the southern slopes, where the snow melts on alpine meadows in the very first hours or days after a snowfall, or to steeper windward slopes, where the snow is blown away by the winds.

Bearded vulture.

Following the wild ungulates, the predators that hunt them migrate - wolves, lynxes, snow leopards.
The diversity of natural conditions in the mountains allows animals to find places to winter near the areas where they live in the summer. Therefore, the seasonal migrations of animals in the mountains, as a rule, are much shorter than the migrations of animals and birds on the plains. In the Altai, Sayan and North-Eastern Siberia mountains, wild reindeer make seasonal migrations of only a few tens of kilometers, while their relatives living in the Far North sometimes travel half a thousand kilometers or more in order to reach their wintering grounds.
In the spring, as the snow melts, the animals that have descended migrate back to the upper zones of the mountains. Among wild ungulates, adult males are the first to rise, followed by females with recently born, not yet strong enough babies.
Chamois, mountain goats, wild sheep and other ungulates living in the mountains often die in winter and early spring during snowfalls. In the Alps in the winter of 1905/06, one of the avalanches buried a herd of chamois - about 70 heads.
When there is a lot of snow in the mountains, it is very difficult for wintering ungulates: the snow prevents them from moving and getting food. In the mountains of the Western Caucasus in 1931-1932. It was a very snowy winter. The layer of snow in some places exceeded 6 m. Many deer, roe deer and other animals migrated to the lower parts of the mountains, where the snow cover was less. This winter, roe deer ran into villages and were easily captured. They were caught and kept in barns along with livestock until the snow in the mountains melted and the roe deer were no longer in danger of dying from starvation. At the end of December 1936, snowfall in the Caucasus Nature Reserve continued for four days. At the upper border of the forest, the layer of new loose snow reached a meter. The reserve's scientific staff, while in the mountains, noticed a deep path leading down the slope. They skied down along this trail and soon overtook a large auroch. Only a head with horns was visible from the snow.

Lama.

Some species of butterflies, bumblebees and wasps that live high in the mountains have dense pubescence on their bodies - this reduces heat loss. The latter is also facilitated by the shortening of the body appendages - antennae and legs.
Strong winds in the mountains make life difficult for flying insects. The wind often blows them onto snow fields and glaciers, where they die. As a result of long-term natural selection in the mountains, species of insects arose with greatly shortened, underdeveloped wings, which completely lost the ability for active flight. Their closest relatives, living on the plains, are winged and can fly.
On high altitudes insects are found only in places, where living conditions are most favorable for them.

Tundra partridge.

The animals of the mountains have not yet been sufficiently studied; many interesting pages from their lives have not yet been read and await young, inquisitive naturalists. The following reserves provide exceptional opportunities for observing the life of wild animals in the mountains: Caucasian, Crimean, Teberdinsky, Aksu-Dzhabaglinsky (Western Tien Shan), Sikhote-Alinsky, etc.

Third honor of sushi, almost 50 million square kilometers, mountains occupy the earth. Conditions in the mountains are significantly different from the plains: much colder, more precipitation, long winters, frequent winds, thin air and little vegetation.

The main feature of the mountains is low pressure and lack of oxygen in the air, which is a very serious obstacle to the habitat of living creatures.

Starting from 4 thousand meters above sea level, most living beings, including humans, experience so-called oxygen starvation. A living organism deprived of sufficient oxygen cannot withstand normal stress, and in some cases can lead to death.

And yet, these places are by no means lifeless. In these extreme conditions, life did not stop, and quite a lot of people live in the mountains. a large number of animals and birds adapted to these conditions.

On different continents, peculiar species live in the mountains. So in South America, in the Andes at an altitude of more than 4000 meters, alpacas, guanacos, and vicunas live. These are peculiar relatives of camels known to us. They have the same long legs and a neck, but there are no humps, and they are smaller in size.

Several species of mountain goats and aurochs live in the mountains of Europe, Asia and America. These are wild animals and are mainly hunting species, now of course not commercial, but purely amateur. The mountain goat is considered honorable hunting trophy for most hunters.

In the mountains of Europe and Asia you can see snow leopards, beautiful and fast big cats, which, being predatory, find their prey there in the mountains. Because of its beautiful fur, the snow leopard has been a desirable prey for hunters for many years. Now this animal is on the verge of extinction and is listed in the Red Book.

Another one lives in the mountains of Tibet and Pamir amazing view mountain animals - . These huge, buffalo-like animals, covered with long fur, generally prefer to live only in mountainous areas. Their body is so different from lowland animals that they are unable to survive at lower altitudes.
Large lungs and heart, as well as a special blood composition with increased hemoglobin, ensure the supply of oxygen to the yak’s body when it is deficient in the air. A thick layer of subcutaneous fat and the absence of sweat glands provide him with the ability to tolerate low temperature, but at the same time create overheating of the body at temperatures above 15°C. Under normal conditions, yaks are much hardier than ordinary bulls, and females, compared to cows, produce more milk with increased fat content.

People noticed the characteristics of mountain animals and their endurance a very long time ago. One of the first people to domesticate a wild goat and began to receive fluff and milk from it. Several thousand years ago, Indians living in the South American Andes tamed llamas and used them as beasts of burden. Alpacas and vicuñas began to be bred to obtain excellent fur, which is mainly used for export; guanacos are mostly semi-wild and serve as a source of meat and wool for the local population.

Residents of Tibet and the Pamirs domesticated yaks and began to use them as beasts of burden and for meat, milk and wool. In order to give special qualities large domestic yak cattle, yaks were crossed with Mongolian cows and a hybrid was obtained, the so-called Khaynaks, which have the calm disposition of an ordinary cow and the endurance and productivity of a Tibetan yak. Hainaks can live in flat conditions, so they began to be bred in Russia, Buryatia and Tuva.

PEACE TO YOU, ANIMALS!

Flocks of chamois scurry up and down the slopes with equal ease. The tops of the rocky ridges are guarded by argali, propping up the sky with powerful horns. Eagles soar in the sky and have no idea that someone is propping up their sky. Hares jump on the ground and marmots sing their songs. Marmots generally just want to sing songs.

Today the nature of the Alps is extremely rich in all kinds of living creatures. But the realization that nature should be protected did not immediately come to Europeans. There are also known facts of monstrous “royal hunts” with the killing of hundreds and thousands of animals for fun, and completely exterminated species of animals, such as wild bull- a tour that lived in the middle latitudes of Eurasia. By the way, the Polish monarchs tried to save the tour by issuing, it seems, the corresponding laws in 1400... But from the first half of the 20th century, a movement for nature conservation began in the Alps. What is noteworthy is that its first initiators and even the creators of the first national parks became the same persons like the last kings of Italy, who recently decorated their castles with the horns of chamois and wild goats killed in hunting. That is, the consciousness of Europeans has changed, and as a result, today we meet all kinds of animals on our path and politely give way to each other without fear of being eaten, bypassing any licenses and UN conventions.

Free-roaming animals are free to roam on their own. What this means is that they are absolutely not obligated to come out to you and let you pet them. So whether you meet someone on your morning run or not depends on chance. But if you want to be guaranteed to see the most real wild creatures in real conditions wild forest, and even pet some of them, you should go to visit the local park Parc de Merlet (www.parcdemerlet.com), located on the mountain between Chamonix and Les Houches. You can go there by car, but if someone wants to combine business with pleasure, that is, the pleasure of learning environment with the benefit of deep penetration into it through hard tracking, then for true heroes from the center of Chamonix to the mountain, where the park is, a special path leads. An hour and a half, and you’re there, hand over the cashier at the entrance for about seven euros per person and enter the animal world. By the way, there are all human conditions - a conference room and a restaurant.

“Just don’t be scared,” says the girl who sold the entrance tickets. - Our animals are very independent. Yesterday, a little goat came into the restaurant, walked around the hall and grabbed customers by the tails of their shirts with his teeth, inviting them to play.

This is somehow very touching...

Yes, our animals treat visitors with all their hearts, and some... it’s not that they’re afraid, they’re just not used to it, and that’s why they don’t react quite adequately. Now you will walk along the path, and llamas will probably pester you. They are the most sociable ones here. Don't drive them away, otherwise they will be offended. They love to be petted.

Need I say that the most grateful visitors to this animal world are the youngest guests of the park? The objects of adoration squeal with pleasure under the hands of the subjects, and it is not for certain which of them squeaks louder.

In terms of the population density of animals per square six hundred square meters, the park can be compared to a zoo. But no cages, enclosures, or fences. It's like a nature reserve, only small. Animals share territory with each other in a natural way, as in nature, and do not compete for the right to influence. Indeed, what kind of competition can an antelope and a marmot have? By the way, here is the marmot - he dug himself underground palaces and came to the surface to see what was going on around him. Nothing special was happening around, except for the light rain that was already falling.

To prevent a walk through the reserve from turning into a chaotic movement trying to catch up and photograph this or that animal, it is recommended to follow the laid out routes - one “easy”, the other, relatively speaking, “difficult”. The difficulty lies in the fact that there is a section of the path to climb along natural mountainous terrain, which, in the absence of asphalt, requires boots with a pronounced tread. At the entrance, you can take a diagram that shows the animals that are most likely to be encountered on specific sections of the route. There are even several benches on the upper terrace of the park, so if you have a thermos of hot tea, it’s good to sit on one of them, drink tea and watch how mountain goats and small deer frolic in the gullies below. Drops of spring rain rustle on your hood. To merge with nature is to merge.