You learn something everyday. I am a wildlife biologist and love species from other countries, but I have never heard of this animal until today while looking into species in the order Artiodactyla.
This is what Wikipedia says about the creature
quote:
The Takin (Budorcas taxicolor) is a goat-antelope found in heavily forested areas of the Eastern Himalayas. There are four subspecies: B. taxicolor taxicolor, the Mishmi Takin; B. taxicolor bedfordi, the Shensi or Golden Takin; B. taxicolor tibetana, the Tibetan or Sichuan Takin; and B. taxicolor whitei, the Bhutan Takin. The takin is the national animal of Bhutan.
Takin stand 110 to 120 centimetres at the shoulder and weigh up to 1000+ kilograms. Takin have large muzzles and eyes with noticeably small ears - giving a vaguely cartoonish appearance. They are covered in a thick golden wool which turns black on the under-belly. Both sexes have small horns which run parallel to the skull and then turn upwards in a short point, these are around 30 centimetres long.
Takin are found in bamboo forests at altitudes of 2,000 to 4,500 metres - where they eat grass, buds and leaves. Takin are diurnal, active in the day, resting in the heat on particularly sunny days. Takin gather in small herds in winter and herds of up to a hundred individuals in the summer, old males are solitary.
Some theorise that the Takin may be the source of the Golden Fleece in Greek mythology.
Has this species been legally sport hunted?
Posts: 3284 | Location: Mountains of Northern California | Registered: 22 November 2005
OKH ,The book Dragon Hunter has a small story about RC Andrews hunting Takin .Evidently the Chinese called it Yeh Niu [wild cow ]they were also called ''Golden Fleece''.They say in Czechs book ''the male is a conspicuous yellow ,the female is lighter and more silvery in colour .the bulls are much larger and have a reddish tinge around the neck .The hindquarters ,he says have an absurd look from the rear like that of a teddy bear,hiding a short tail .The animal is similar in build and gait to a rocky mountain goat, The horns of the old bulls do not harden into a solid central mass but seperate ,the younger bulls have their horns close together with a soft base .When alarmed give each other a warning by giving a hoarse cough .The bulls are very cunning and hard to approach .The meat is tough but good .Roy shot several of the animals but their is no detail on them in this book ,apart from them being in the Tsinling mountains in the Shensi province and highlands of india and Tibet and stating they are related to the musk ox .thats all the info i have hope that helps
Posts: 175 | Location: australia | Registered: 14 January 2006
D Phillips yes you are right, there is a mention of Takin in ''Across Mongolian plains''[just had a look ]. In Czechs book, it does say they were regarded as ferocious[by the locals] i dont know if that was males toward each other? or toward predators
Posts: 175 | Location: australia | Registered: 14 January 2006
Bob Kerns of the Hunting Consortium books hunts for these. I think it runs something like $15,000 for the hunt and an additional $15,000 for the trophy fee. Too rich for my blood.
There are actually 3 types of these things with the Golden Takin being the rarest, the biggest and the prettiest. The photos above look to be the Sichuan variety. The 3rd type is the Mishmi.
If you are ever in Denver,the zoo has a couple of the Mishmi Takin there. They also have some Okapi. Denver's zoo is involved in trying to increase the #'s of some of the rarer large mammals and it has some real oddities housed there. Worth a visit if you are there and have some free time.
Cheers
Mac
Posts: 1638 | Location: Colorado by birth, Navy by choice | Registered: 04 February 2001
Four star adventures offers hunts for them for around $13000.00 with only about 5 tags per year, its a wonder they are not a heck of alot more expensive !!!!! considering the price of Argali ,which i would like to hunt, but will never be able to .Apparently these animals kill around two or three villagers per year
Posts: 175 | Location: australia | Registered: 14 January 2006
Anyone that books hunts in China offers Takin hunts!!! They run from 13 to 15K for the hunt and at least 13K for the trophy fee, about the same price as the Chinese white lipped Deer. They are a unique animal but too pricey for my pocketbook!!!
You can import them. A fellow in my hunting club shot one a couple years back. It's now a life-size mount in his trophy room. He wrote an article about it a year or two ago in Safari Magazine called "China Gold." It certainly is an interesting animal, but makes a very unique mount.
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Thanks loads for posting this.I saw this animal at an out of the way holding area of the Albuquerque Zoo several months ago and could not, for the life of me,identify them. What a great forum this is.Someone always has an answer
