Influence of environmental factors on physiological state of domestic yak (Bos mutus) (on the example of the Steppe Research Station “Orenburg Tarpania”)

Abstract

Increased interest in the treatment and prevention of diseases of large herbivorous animals is associated with the processes of their acclimatisation during introduction and reintroduction, modelling behaviour in the conditions of existence in a wild natural environment, with minimal human participation. Since 2014, acclimatisation of domestic yak (Bos mutus Przewalski, 1883) in the steppe zone in the east of the Russian Plain, at the Steppe Research Station “Orenburg Tarpania” has been carried out. “Orenburg Tarpania” is a project of the Steppe Institute of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences to return large ungulates to their natural habitat in order to maintain optimal functioning of natural ecosystems. The ideology of the project corresponds to the concept of ecological rewilding. The animals are kept in a semi-voluntary state. The domestic yak is chosen as a species adapted to existence in extreme conditions with low temperature, extreme solar radiation in the southern latitudes, and relatively arid conditions. The conditions of yak keeping in the steppe zone differ from its natural habitat. During the period of observation, two reasons for the disturbance of the physical condition of animals have been recorded. Firstly, these are injuries received in the process of life activity. Injuries are often complicated by wolfarthiasis. The second disturbance of physical condition of domestic yak is eye damage in some individuals, which occurs due to incomplete adaptation of some animals to high wind activity, typical for the steppe region. The main cause of conjunctivitis and keratitis is dust raised by strong winds. A set of measures has been developed and adapted to provide treatment of animals in conditions close to natural habitat and semivoluntary confinement.