High mountains inhabited by little people. The land here is difficult, and it can be used only in the summer as pasture for domestic animals. In the last century of the mountain have become a popular place of entertainment - first, they were chosen by the climbers, later skiers. The laying of tracks, construction lifting equipment, hotels and lodges sometimes cause adverse changes in the natural environment.
High in the mountains even on the rocks grow flowers of great beauty, such as akvilegija.
The highest city in the world - Lhasa (China), located in Tibet at an altitude of 3 630 meters.
Mountains Of North America.
The rocky mountains are located in the Western part of North America, stretching from North to South from Alaska to Mexico - a distance of 3,200 miles. Conditions of the local climate are not conducive to the development of agriculture, but it is quite favorable for summer pastures fat herds of large and small cattle.
During the last ice age , when glaciers covered more ground surface towards the equator, the animals retreated to the South in search of warmer areas. In Europe and Asia they encounter an insurmountable obstacle in the form of mountains, stretching from West to East. Some animal species have become extinct, and not being able to go through the mountains.
In America mountains are located in the other direction - from North to South, and this contributed to the survival of a larger number of different species.
The highest peak in North America - mount McKinley - 6194 meters, Alaska.
Bighorn sheep is larger than the usual sheep, his skin a dark color and it has a long twisted horns. Bighorns utilize such a loud battle horns that you can hear from afar.
Snow goat a big fan of salt and often overcomes the miles in search of salt deposits, which she eagerly licks. Her food is very diverse - from willow to herbs and coniferous trees.
Grizzly - once very common in the Rocky mountains; now preserved only in Alaska and in the mountains of Canada.
Wolverine. This is an animal that looks like a small bear, is found in the North woods. She leads a solitary and every night digging a hole, and spends the night. Wolverine - the predator moves at a trot or jumps and attacks out in the open, so her alleged victim can often be saved. However, refuses Wolverine and from animals killed by a bear or a Puma.
In the Western part of South America is the world's longest mountain chain. This Andes (Cordillera de Los Andes) - high mountains, stretching from North to South. The highest peak of the Andes mountain Aconcagua, its height is 6 959 meters.
Mountains in the Andes mountains are very high and steep, most of them are year-round snow-covered. And just to the North, where the climate is somewhat milder, on the plateau people live. The Andes were formed in relatively recent geological epoch in the large displacements of the earth surface, due to which they rose from the depths of the sea. For this reason, in the Andes, many active volcanoes, one of them Ojos del Salado height 6 863 meters.
This large bird of prey found at any altitude up to 5,000 meters above sea level. Like other vultures, he lives in the company of their relatives, and not a hermit like an eagle.
Andean Condor is the largest predatory bird, its weight is 12 pounds, and its wingspan of 3 meters.
Spectacled bear. This small bear black suit named this unusual name from the yellowish ring around the eyes like glasses. Found in the Northern Andes.
This animal is considered a treasure of the Andes from the times of the Incas, whose culture has reached here of its prosperity to the middle of the 15th century. Lama dense and very soft fur, could not be better suited to the cold mountain climate. Disturbed Lama is protected very peculiar: vigorously spits at opponent, completely obscurity it.
Lama like a small camel without a hump.
The vicuna. The smallest representative of camelids, usually weighs no more than 50 pounds. Vicuna bred for its fine wool.
Guanaco. The wild ancestors of the llama. This is the largest mammal in South America - his weight is 75 kilograms.
Alpaca - hybrid guanaco and vicuna.
On the roof of the world.
The roof of the world - the so-called Pamir mountain system in Central Asia, which occupies almost 100 thousand sq. km and is located on the territory of Tajikistan, Afghanistan and China. The average height of the plateau is more than 3 000 meters, the ridges reach heights of over 6 000 meters. Meet deep gorges and glaciers, Alpine desert and steppe areas, river valleys and lakes.
The highest peak of the world: Everest (Chomolungma), height 8 846 meters.
The largest in the mountains of Asia glacier: Siachen, 75, 5 km.
Asiatic black bear
Asiatic black bear. He has black fur with a light stripe on the chest, resembling a collar. Feeds on plants, berries, fruits, and invertebrates and small crustaceans which are caught in rivers. Lives mainly in forests, where food for him more than enough and where he nimbly climbs trees.
Chetyrehrogaja antelope. Large, almost like a Gazelle, these animals form a mating pair or live alone. Males have four horns, and the front are very small. Found this antelope in the forested mountains of India, near water.
Musk deer. Atypical representative of the deer family: she has no horns, and the upper canines are very developed, as the predators. Inhabits wooded and steep mountains from Tibet to Siberia. One of her glands, the so-called musk pouch, generates a secret with a very strong odor.
Diamond pheasant. His colorful plumage and longest tail. Lives in the mountains at an altitude of 2 000 - 3 000 meters in dense bamboo thickets, kidney disease, which eats.
Takin and Yak.
Similar to the bull, Takin more massive and clumsy, and in addition, have adapted to life at the height of from 2 500 to 4 000 metres, but in winter it descends below because of lack of food. And Yak lives even higher up to 6,000 meters. The locals grow Yakov since time immemorial. In the wild these animals were preserved in Tibet.
If takin will get rid hunter, he is hiding in the forest and lying down, low bending down his head to the ground. He's so sure of that now no one will see that it can quietly get closer.
Small Takin born after 8 months of fetal development.
Yak has a very thick skin black, which is high in the mountains protect it from the cold. Domestic yaks are bred in the highlands of Asia as a worker and part of dairy cattle.
This cat is also called the snow leopard. Its long body with a tail longer than 2 meters. He has wide feet, so as not to fall into the snow, and thick skin color which blends with the color of the rocks among which he lives. IRBIS is extremely clever: can pursue their prey by jumping on the steep slopes, and the only one of cat can jump on 15 meters.
Usually the female of an animal is born two cubs. After then, as they stop drinking milk, the mother takes them on a hunting trip, arranging in this case, the ambush in the high places, to extend the zone of visibility. Summer snow leopards live very high up in the mountains, and in winter, down in the valley.
The giant Panda, or bamboo bear is the symbol of the world wildlife Fund. Found only in the mountains of South-Eastern China and Western Tibet. The giant Panda is endangered and strictly protected by law.
There are only a few hundred individuals of the giant Panda.
The length of the body of the newborn bamboo bear is 10 inches!
Basically a large Panda eats shoots and leaves of bamboo, roots, and only sometimes changes his vegetarian habit, eating small rodents.
Small Panda less well known than bamboo bear, and much smaller than his. The back and tail she has red, and the abdomen and legs black.
Argali, tar and markhor.
On the "roof of the world" freely live different kinds overtook tough-horned herbivores, similar to goats. They are very agile: can easily jump from cliffs or stop to pinch the grass in places where it would seem impossible to climb. Some species, such as containers, in danger of extinction, although they have not so many enemies except man.
Markhor. He has an unusual twisted horns, directed vertically upwards. Markhor can climb cliffs to eat the tender leaves of the trees.
Tar can jump up to 10 meters without causing yourself any harm. It is well settled down in America.
Argali. Differently it is called Altai wild goat. Lives in herds. Males have very well developed horns. Sometimes honey they begin a fierce battle, with the force butt, but never seriously hurt each other.
Alps - the oldest mountains in Europe. This mountain chain in the shape of an arc which extends from West to East, a length of about 1100 and a width of about 250 kilometers. On it are the borders of such countries as Italy, France, Switzerland and Austria. Many Alpine peaks covered with eternal snows, and often with them melting ice and glaciers. Prevail here broadleaf and coniferous forests. At an altitude of 2000 meters forests disappear, giving way to dense shrubs and meadows. Wildlife is as diverse, and the number of animals is constantly growing, despite the presence in the Alps person, because for hunting and fishing under a strict control. Recently in Italy re-emerged lynx disappeared here more than two centuries ago.
The highest peak of the Alps: Mont Blanc - 4 810 meters.
Wallcreeper. The bird plumage on the body is grey, and the wings are black and red. She quickly goes through agile paws on steep rocks, exploring the crack in search of insects on which it feeds.
The Viper. This snake does not lay eggs in the ground, they develop directly into her body, and so the young are born alive. Never attack first, if not disturbed.
Black grouse. During the mating period, males grouse attract females specific behavior: scream, jump up, muttered, bending down his head and fluffing the tail, and sometimes fight with other children. The place where this happens is called ecowise, and the behavior of males displaying.
The Golden eagle. Dwells in the highest and most inaccessible areas of the Alps. Lives solitary and only during incubation of the eggs and feeding Chicks - with female. Soaring high in the sky, the Golden eagle surveys its territory, looking for prey and expelling alien relatives. Eagle hunting young ungulates, grabs them and takes away in his nest.
Exactly horns and hooves allow you to survive many mountain animals, the so-called paracobitis. The horn is an important defensive weapon against predators and effective means to assert its dominance in the herd. Hooves, looking so slick, in fact well adapted to the habitat is steep, often snow-covered rocks; they allow the animals to climb the cliff and move with surprising ease. Enemies of cloven-hoofed animals - wolves and lynx, which many years later returned to the Alps.
Chamois. Found at such altitudes where there are no woody vegetation; in winter it descends below and visits the depths of the forest. Lives in small herds. The female gives birth to only one calf, which after a couple of hours can follow the mother.
When ROE is based on the foot, the hoof is moved to create the ideal support and on earth and snow.
The horns of the chamois short and recurved almost at right angles.
Mountain goat - massive artiodactyls animal with a short beard and large horns that males can reach one meter.
Mouflon. Only found in Europe wild sheep. The male is easily recognized by the horns, broad at the base and twisting spiral. Horns grow from the mouflon life. Mouflon herbivorous animal, sometimes ablative bark of young trees.
Groundhogs - large Alpine rodents. The mass of this rodent depending on the time of year varies from 4 to 8 pounds. Like all rodents, the marmot very developed teeth that continually grow throughout life, and babies they are white, and in adult rodents yellowish tint. Marmot known since ancient times: another Roman writer Pliny the Elder (23 - 79 ad) called it the Alpine mouse, noticing that he lives under the earth and whistles as a mouse" in winter, the Groundhog hibernates in the hole got filled with food, he will gnaw during the short-lived revivals. The hole he will leave in the spring.
The marmot short tail, covered with disheveled hair, and small paws.
Under the skin marmot has a thick layer of fat that protects it from cold and serves as a reserve of energy. The inhabitants of the Alps are convinced that this fat is a good tool for the treatment of respiratory organs.
These animals spend a lot of time next to its hole, looking for food. Senior marmots are sitting on their hind legs and carefully study area. Noticing the danger, they warn about it other marmots characteristic whistle.
One of the enemies marmot - Raven, agile predator that attacks young marmots. If the ravens usually attack in packs, the eagle flies quiet one. From a height, he aims at the production and dives at her. Approaching, slow fall, pulling paws, claws and grabs the unfortunate victim, not giving her any chance to escape. The eagle preys not only on marmots, but also for rabbits, hares, snakes, young ungulates.
Marmot eats roots, leaves and grass; during the meal he sits on his hind legs, front and keeps eating.
Whistle for Surkov is not only a warning of approaching danger, but also a means of communication. In the event of an alarm, barely hearing the whistle, all marmots immediately hide in holes, not even noticing that they are actually in danger. It seems that chamois perceive disturbing their whistling marmot as a warning about the danger.
St. Bernard is a large dog with a very long coat black and tan / white color. In the 17th century they had been bred by the monks of the monastery of St. Bernard, located on one of the Alpine passes. They used these dogs to search travelers caught in a snow slide or avalanche. St. Bernards found accidents and pulled them from under the snow, raking his claws.
Despite the fact that it is one of the largest dogs - she weighs about 8 - pounds, the character she's meek and docile.
Barry - name the most famous St. Bernard; for 12 years he saved about 40 people.