Cute Babies are growing

People are often attracted by small animals. But only being cute， not quickly acquiring the necessary skills to survive， small animals can not survive independently. So， what are the basic skills that wild animals need to survive in the wild？ This article will reveal the answer for you.

White Crane

In The Book of Songs， there is a saying， “when the crane sings in the sky， their sound can be heard in the fields.” In China， there are some "Jiugao" for cranes， migratory or wintering， such as Poyang Lake， China's largest freshwater lake. Poyang Lake has a large area of shallow water， mud and marshland habitat， in this winter winter crane， white crane and many other cranes and other waterbirds are provided with the ideal wintering place. But after careful observation you will find that white cranes spending the winter in the Poyang Lake are not all a white. How come is it？

White crane babies eating “weeds”

In the Poyang Lake， people can always find some idividuals with brown body feathers mixed in the adult group of white crane group， and sometimes adult crane will also send food to them. It turned out that they are half a year old crane， that is， white crane sub-adult. Most of these cranes were born in the distant Siberia in the summer and moved to the relatively warm Poyang Lake with their parents and other cranes before the cold winter in the north. They will feed on winter buds of vallisneria spiralis buried in the mud of Poyang Lake， as well as potentilla limprichtiis and other plants underground roots. In these years lack of food resources of "weeds"， the crane will be in the paddy fields to eat scattered rice.

Learn to find food

efficiently

Scientists have found that， when the white crane sub-adult arrived in Poyang Lake， due to lack of experience， their feeding efficiency is lower than the adult， foraging time is longer. If the white crane baby has been unable to eat， then they will be very difficult to survive the cold winter， it is difficult in the spring to come， moved out of Poyang Lake before the accumulation of enough energy to migrate. Therefore， they often eat their parents， and the birds will be generous and sub-adult share the food. But as time goes on， sub-adults have more time to observe and learn how to feed their parents efficiently. After a winter practice， they gradually mastered the skills of efficient feeding.

Love from the parents

In addition to the firect dependence and care of begging and feeding， among the sub-adults of white crane birds there is a more intolerant care. White crane baby in the focus on foraging， perhaps no time， there is no sense to take into account the danger at any time around them， these risks from the potential predator and human shelter and so on. Especially in the wild environment （including shallow water， mud and weed beach， etc.） in the food resources are poor， the crane to the rice habitat foraging， the risk of this possibility will be higher. If you only bow for food， white crane baby may at any time have life-threatening. So in addition to feeding sub-adults， they are also responsible for looking up， for them to guard against potential dangers. In this way， before the danger comes， the white crane baby can fly to a safe place with the warning from their parents.

Take the road of

independence

Winter gradually passes， and comparing to the time when they just moved to the Poyang Lake， the white crane sub-adults ability to gain food is a little bit enhanced， foraging efficiency gradually increased， the frequency of begging to their parents also gradually reduced. The proportion of time spent on the potential risk of alert has improved， they are toward the independence and a step forward. Experienced the care of a winter from parents， white crane baby is about to leave with their parents to the north. The birds will begin breeding a new year after arriving at the breeding ground. At this time， the adult body is about to reach the age of one is still not yet have the ability to reproduce， they will be separated from the birds， with the survival experience from the birds there， together with other sub-adults through the summer.

African elephant

In the outskirts of Nairobi， the capital of Kenya， there is a very special "kindergarten"， where live “babies” from dozens of days to years of age. They are here never to worry about food and clothing， but never picked up by parents to return home. Because they are orphans， small elephant orphans. Here is the only small elephant orphanage in Africa， set up 40 years to collect a total of 150 small elephants， which only in 2016 accommodated 17 small orphans.

Where are the elephant

orphans from

Some of these little ones come from nearby protected areas， some from other Kenyan provinces， and others from other African countries. Some of the little elephant's mother died because of drought or hunger， but more is dead under the hunting of a shotgun or spear. Lost the mother's little elephant almost can not get other maternal care， if there is no human "rescue"， they will have no choice but to die.

Rescued the elephant are very young， mostly 1 to 3 years old. They do not have the ability to live alone， so the staff will almost always accompany them， and for their modulation of special "breast milk" - goat milk， camel milk and other substances in the mixture. Some small elephant or even small can not use the nose to roll the bottle to drink their own milk， needing the staff holding the bottle to feed. And those small elephants who can not live alone overnight， they will be taken to the house by the staff， covered with blankets to keep warm.

Guide the elephant to learn the survival skills

When taking care of these small elephants， the staff will use the shovel to the pour soil on their bodies， instantly coveing them with the East African Red of the land. This action simulates the wild adult elephant to their own body of soil behavior， which can be sunscreen， but also controling the pest. Older individuals， gradually acquired these skills， can complete on their own the sprinkler， soil covering， etc. They are carefree in the orphanage's life and will learn many surviving skills before adulthood. After adulthood， they will be put into the wild， into the wild elephant groups.

Difficult to return to the

wild

Just as animals living in zoos are hard to get back to the wild， these little elephants grow up in the orphanage are also hard to acquire all the survival skills when they are independent， and it is difficult to integrate into new elephants. The danger and predicament of the wild， they may not be able to deal with it at all. As a result， people will "soft release" them at a place on the edge of the Chawau protected area before releasing the young and healthy. The environment is relatively open， wild plant resources are more abundant， there are quagmire and ponds， and there are often wild elephants come to patronize， but also there are their familiar breeders. They can either stay here， or leave.

It is gratifying that people from time to time to see here a few years ago to return to the wild elephant with a new born elephant to the pond water. Breeding success means that wild play has been successful， and these maternal elephant are teaching the next generation the water map in the dry season of Africa .

The growth process of wild elephants

African grassland elephants will be established by the blood relationship between the female and minor male groups， elephants will， under the leadership of their “big parents”， their old grandmother， look for food and water. Small elephants will continue to play in the process， from the elders and companions who get the necessary survival skills. In the wild elephant， wait until the elephant become mature， if it is female， then it continues to stay in the elephant； if it is male， it will leave， living almost alone. And to the mating season， the male will go to find and mate with other unrelated elephants.

Hedgehog

Nocturnal animal

Represented by common hedgehogs， hedgehogs are cute as always. But in fact， they are traditional nocturnal animals. They are often condensed during the day， hiding in the roots， shrubs， weeds in the nest to sleep； in the dark after they will go out of their nest to forage. Hedgehogs are not as keen as the eagle， nor do they have some bat "radar detection" type positioning system， they rely on keen sense of smell to stop， looking for beetles， butterflies and other insects for food.

The growth process of

baby hedgehogs

The hedgehog is widely distributed in most parts of the Eurasian continent， living in forests （broadleaf， coniferous forest）， shrubs， grasslands and other habitats. These habitats also distributed the hedgehogs of the natural enemies， including wolves， foxes， weasels and birds of prey. When the danger comes， the hedgehog is often difficult to escape in time， so they will shrink into a group， under the control of the muscles put up hard thorns， in order to protect themselves. But for the newly born hedgehogs cubs， how do they protect themselves？

Hedgehog mother every litter 1 to 5 babies， an average of 3 per nest， but the hedgehog cubs weight is very light， three cubs weight is roughly equivalent to an egg. These newly born cubs can not open their eyes， whose body is gray， and the skin is only a small amount of white thorns. At this time they are entirely dependent on the mother's feeding and growth， and its safety is also entirely dependent on the mother's direct protection and concealed nest of indirect protection. About two weeks later， hedgehog baby can open his eyes， and gradually feeding their own. And after a week they began to weaned. After about 30 days of birth， hedgehogs have been basically developed， they are about to bid farewell to the mother， live a living alone， and like their mother， with the back of the spines to protect themselves.

Knowledge link：

Mammals and birds in a considerable part of the species， the progeny will be a great contribution to the offspring. Whether it is direct feeding， or words and deeds of survival skills， will affect the survival of the offspring， and thus affect the offspring of their offspring， and finally the whole species， and even the fate of the entire ecosystem. Of course， these skills are not all directly by the parents to teach， most of the offspring through observation and learning to obtain.

Whether it is a crane， an African elephants， or a hedgehog， they grow up in a healthy environment full of danger and challenge， and must learn how to avoid or resist natural enemies， how to find food and water， which is the basic skills of wildlife survival. In addition， they also need to resist the infestation of the disease， social animals， but also with other individuals in the population to establish a good relationship， and ultimately find a partner， multiply producing descendants.

（Thanks to： Qiong ZHANG， Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research， Chinese Academy of Sciences）