The African pygmy goat climbs and jumps excellently when it wants to reach the bark and leaves of trees and bushes. That earned it the name Tree Goat. In their African homeland they sometimes cause great damage by eating the bark as trees may die. The pygmy goats are kept in Africa by nomads in herds of 50 to 1000 animals in a migratory economy but also settled tribes appreciate their meat.
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Cashmere goats live in the Asian highlands at altetudes up to 4,500 m under extreme temperature conditions. During winter at temperaturs of - 30° Celsius they grow the precious hair. The coarse upper hairs easily protects them against rain. The 6 cm long fine hairs of the undercoat keep them warm. In the past this hair was combed out by hand and then processed into the famous cashmere scarfs. Only emperors, kings or other very wealthy people could afford these garments.
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To this day, donkeys are required to carry out heavy loads, riding and pulling. Compared to horses, because of their "prudence" they are better suited for working in difficult terrain. They do not run away when there is danger, but stay e.g. face dangerous bridges. This caution was ignored by the ancient Greeks. The donkeys were assumed to be stupid. That's why they called tasks that stupid don't dare "donkey bridges". Today, "donkey bridges" are good memories for us.
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The breed from the 18th century is characterized by a good feed conversion ratio, fattening and tractive performance. Because it is almost extinct the red cattle is part of the state conservation programme.
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This cow was bred in the North Marshes of Friesland. From 1965 onwards the crossing of Holstein Fresian from North Ameica began in the old German federal states. In The former DDR in 1970 90% of the cows were black pied. After 1970 the cows were crossed with Jersey and Holstein Frisian in a Three-breed crossing to black pied dairy cattle.
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Degus live in arid areas with sparse vegetation which is why they are used to a meagre diet and are not able to process sugar. That is why they have been used as test animals in diabetes research. Since the mid-1970s the cute, agile, diurnal and socially living small animals have become popular pets. When feeding them fruits and other sugary foods should be avoided in order to prevent diabetes.
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Thanks to the dense coat the corsac or steppe fox is very well adapted to the cold and the extreme weatherof the Central Asian steppes and deserts. He can survive without food and water for a long time.
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With only 2 - 3 g body weight and 5 cm body length the common dwarf shrew shares the title of „smallest mammal of the world“ with the bumblebee bat. It offers a number of superlatives: with up to 1300 beats per minute and up to 900 breaths per minute it is the "top" of the the animal kingdom. Thanks to their high metabolism common dwarf shrews are constantly looking for food and eat up to 15 crickets or mealworms per day - wich comes to 1.5 times their own body weight!
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Just like other mongooses banded mongooses are specialists when it comes the opening of eggs:They put the raw egg between their paws and systematically throw it against a rock or something else by straddle-vaulting their back legs. They then slurp the contents of the broken egg.
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For bad times reserves are necessary - Bactrian camels keep their reserves within their humps. They do not contain water but fat. If they are properly filled they rise up 25-35 cm. Camels can also deal well with water shortage: They can survive 2-3 weeks without water since they rarely sweat und only excrete small amounts of water when urinating. After several days without water they can drink about 100 liters in just a few minutes.
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Alpine marmots spend the majority of their lives underground in self-dug burrows especially during their seven month long hibernation. They have large paws with strong claws for digging. Using their front legs or teeth they loosen the soil and throw it behind them with their strong hind legs. Because their burrows are built over generations there are large mounds of earth in front of the entrances. Alpine marmots usually stay close to one of the numerous entrances in order to quickly escape from predators.
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All ibexes have horns - with lengths up to one metre the males' ones get especially large. They serve primarliy for communication with conspecifics. During the late summer the males use their horns to perform courtship displays to impress herds of 10 to 20 females and young animals. They do so by getting up on their hind legs, dropping down forward and colliding with the horns with loud crashing. The winner stays with the herd during the winter, mates with the females and leaves the group in the spring.
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3000 years ago the first alpacas were bred for their wool. The ancestral breed of alpacas are vicuñas which live in the high alpine areas of the Andes. Since alpaca wool is very soft the Incas called it the "fleece of the gods". Unlike sheep wool it does not contain any lanolin and is therefore suitable for people with allergies. Nowadays in Germany alpacas are not only kept for their wool. Thanks to their gentle and calming character they are also used in animal assisted therapy.
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