Ungulates, primates and livestock

The toes of ungulates are covered by hooves; they live in open places and run fast. Even-toed ungulates have an even number of toes – two or four. Ruminants have long legs, a four-chambered stomach and eat plants. Plants contain much cellulose, which is hard to digest; tiny bacteria and ciliates in the stomach help digest it. The animal first swallows food without chewing, then brings it back to the mouth and chews it thoroughly again – this is rumination. Cattle, sheep, goats, deer, saiga and the goitered gazelle belong here. Horns are horny, one pair on the head, and grow all life; deer and elk shed their antlers each year and grow new ones. The goitered gazelle lived in Uzbekistan’s deserts, its brown colour hiding it; hunting reduced it and it survives mostly in reserves. The Bukhara deer is kept in the Kyzylkum Reserve and on Payghambar island, and the saiga lives on the Ustyurt steppe. Non-ruminant even-toed ungulates (wild boar, hippo) have strong canines, an undivided stomach and short neck, legs and tail. The wild boar is widespread in Eurasia, lives in Uzbekistan’s mountains and river thickets, eats roots, tubers, fruit and small animals, lives in groups, has striped young, and is the ancestor of the domestic pig. The hippo lives in tropical Africa. Odd-toed ungulates have one or three toes, with body weight resting mainly on the third; the stomach is simple and the caecum long. They include the horse, donkey, zebra, kulan, tapir and rhinoceros. Przewalski’s horse lived on Central Asian steppes and now survives in reserves and zoos. Safety: do not approach wild ungulates, especially antlered males in autumn and a sow with her piglets; do not approach a bull, horse or donkey from behind.