Colours of Wildlife: Golden Takin
Created | Updated Sep 25, 2016
Golden Takin
Willem is a wildlife artist based in South Africa. He says "My aim is simply to express the beauty and wonder that is in Nature, and to heighten people's appreciation of plants, animals and the wilderness. Not everything I paint is African! Though I've never been there, I'm also fascinated by Asia and I've done paintings of Asian rhinos and birds as well. I may in future do some of European, Australian and American species too. I'm fascinated by wild things from all over the world! I mainly paint in watercolours. . . but actually many media including 'digital' paintings with the computer!"
For now, this is my last miniature painting. It shows the face of a Golden Takin, Budorcas taxicolor bedfordi. The Takin is a poorly known mammal from Central Asia – from around Bhutan and northern India eastwards to Tibet and adjacent regions of China. Apart from the Golden Takin, there are three more forms: the Mishmi Takin, Budorcas taxicolor taxicolor, the Tibetan or Sichuan Takin, Budorcas taxicolor tibetana , and the Bhutan Takin, Budorcas taxicolor whitei. Takins look very much like cattle – even a bit like wildebeests – but are actually close relatives of goats and especially sheep. They also have horns and faces somewhat like those of musk-oxen (soon to be featured here, I hope), but they're not that closely related to them – still, musk-oxen are also part of the sheep-goat subfamily. The similarities between them seem to be a case of convergent evolution … although in this case, lifestyle doesn't have much to do with it. Along with musk-oxen, takins are the largest members of the sheep-goat assemblage. They can achieve a shoulder height of 1.4 m/55' and a bodyweight of 300 kg/660 lbs. There are claims of them going as heavy as 600 kg/1320 lbs, but I'm not so sure about those. Their horns are fairly small and short, reaching a length of 30 cm/12". Takins are apparently sometimes known as 'cattle chamois' and 'gnu goats'.
The Golden Fleece
There are speculations that the Golden Takin, specifically, might have inspired the legend of the Golden Fleece, the wool of the miraculous golden ram which Jason and his Argonauts had to go seek. This form of takin indeed has the most wonderful soft, golden wool. The wool of all species varies, being shorter in summer and longer in winter, and reaching the greatest length beneath the head and throat. This soft wool is to keep the takin warm, since it lives in regions experiencing extreme winter cold. The other kinds of takin have wool that can be grey to black, reddish or brownish, and yellowish to golden to creamy white.
Takin the High Road
These cold regions where takins live are the mountains of central Asia, the tallest and most rugged in the world. But takins don't live on the highest peaks; they mostly occur in forests somewhat lower down. They like bamboo thickets. They will sometimes graze above the forest line. The inaccessibility of this habitat offers them some protection against predators – so far only snow leopards (coming to this column soon!) have been recorded preying on them, and only on calves at that. Once when there were still many tigers in the same regions, they would certainly also have caught some takins, and there have been tales of wolves and bears killing them. But they are much protected by the inaccessibility of their habitat.
In this, the takin is quite like the other members of the sheep/goat group: these are animals that are stocky and stout-limbed, unlike the graceful antelopes. They are not as well suited to running, and can't compete with antelopes on the lush, open grasslands or in the woodlands and forests. But sheep, goats and their relatives are extremely hardy animals. They thrive where life is too harsh for the other hoofed mammals: barren deserts and semi-deserts, high and rugged mountains, regions of extreme cold, up to the arctic tundra in the case of the musk ox. Here, speed is not of the essence, but a rugged constitution and the ability to survive on almost any kind of vegetation helps a lot.
Takin Life as it Comes
Takins are gentle herbivores. They typically live in small groups; sometimes in summer much larger herds congregate where there's good grazing, while on the other extreme, some old bulls are solitary. They are generalized feeders, taking grass, leaves, flowers and bamboo shoots, mostly in the early morning and the late afternoon. Sometimes, like the much more slender gerenuk antelopes, they stand on their hind legs to reach leaves high overhead. They'll graze more in summer, utilizing the mountain pastures, but in the cold of the winter they retreat into the shelter of the forests. They enjoy supplementing with salts and minerals at salt licks. Sadly, this makes them vulnerable to humans: hunters who know where the salt licks are, can ambush them there and easily shoot them. Their meat is reportedly very tasty, but humans use their fine wool as well. The main response of the takin to danger is to flee into a dense part of the forest, or into a bamboo thicket, and to lie down … but this hardly helps against human hunters.
Like many other hoofed mammals, takins use scent to mark their territory. Unlike others, they don't seem to have specific scent glands on their bodies, such as on their faces or on their feet; instead, their entire bodies secrete a pungent, oily substance. They also smell each other's urine to establish dominance. Males will fight with other males for dominance and territory. They mate in late summer, and the single calf is born eight months later.
Takin Pains
I find it utterly reprehensible that we humans have made this wonderful and unique, woolly and cuddly sheep-like animal an endangered species! Takins have probably never been very numerous, but today much of their habitat has been destroyed – in China almost all forests except those on the steepest slopes have been cut down – and they've been decimated by hunting as well. Fortunately there are some projects at conserving them. There are a few small breeding herds in zoos around the world. They've also been honoured as the national animal of Bhutan. Let us just hope this is enough! I am sure that, like many species that are now endangered, they are actually not hard to protect and to nurture, being 'grateful' for any chance we would give them. Again I say, that no species 'deserves' to go extinct. Those species we see today as endangered, all have histories of being very successful and often abundant, over periods of hundreds of thousands (for typical species) to, in some cases, one or two million years, and at their peak (for many species) inhabiting extensive ranges. If they're reduced to small populations today, it is only because they've been facing some extreme threats and pressures, and for most of the rare species, that's entirely our doing. Animals simply can't compete with humans who have firearms and the ability to cut down entire forests. But if they disappear, it's forever, and they leave us impoverished. So let's do all we can to keep them around as long as possible! Takins would undoubtedly flourish if we let them, if we conserve remaining mountain forests, grasslands and bamboo thickets, and if we even 're-wild' some of the areas we've destroyed. Potentially, there's quite a large amount of suitable habitat for them in central Asia, and it would indeed be awesome if these weird, woolly critters can again thrive and become abundant.
