Internet celebrity manul "Manul Simiao" died unexpectedly! Manul is neither a rabbit nor a manul, it turns out that it is...

In recent years, the manul has attracted the attention of many netizens because of its silly and cute appearance. The death of "Manul Simiao" has brought it into people's vision. What kind of animal is the manul? Is it related to rabbits?

Written by reporter Duan Dawei

Expert interviewed: Zhang Jinshuo (Deputy Director of the National Museum of Zoology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences)

Many people got to know the manul from "苲思邈". Born in 2015, "苲思邈" was rescued from a citizen's home in Xining City by the Qinghai Wildlife Rescue and Breeding Center. After being raised artificially, he has been living in the Xining Wildlife Park. Later, he was named "苲思邈". Because of his "cute" appearance, he has gradually become the most well-known and influential manul in China.

▲The "obituary" released by Xining Wildlife Park (Source: Sina Weibo)

But the reason why "苲思邈" became a hot topic recently was in an obituary. On October 10, Xining Wildlife Park released a message saying that "苲思邈", the only male manul in captivity in China, died of suffocation due to chicken stuck in his throat while eating. He was 7 and a half years old.

Why did "Mao Simiao" choke to death?

According to Dr. Zhang Jinshuo, deputy director of the National Museum of Zoology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, the average life span of manuls in the wild is about 3 years old due to the influence of the living environment, and 7 years old is considered old. "Pan Simiao" was raised in Xining Wildlife Park until he was 7 and a half years old, which is already an ideal situation. If there is no similar accident, the life span of captive manuls can reach more than 10 years old.

▲The manul "Manul Simiao" (Photo source: Xining Wildlife Park)

▲The cartilage (with bone) stuck in the throat of "Mao Simiao" (Photo source: Xining Wildlife Park)

In response to netizens' questions, the deputy director of Xining Wildlife Park said that it was not a large bone that got stuck in the throat, but two pieces of cartilage (with meat) that it tore off. "We believe that feeding whole carcasses and meat with bones is a better choice than pure meat, and our European counterparts agree with this. Whether there will be any adjustments in the future will be discussed again."

Zhang Jinshuo said that the birth, aging, illness and death of animals are normal. When animals enter old age, their organs age and their chewing ability also becomes problematic. If the caracal died of choking due to boney meat stuck in its throat, it may be because the cartilage between the esophagus and respiratory tract is less controlled by nerves after it reaches old age, and its reaction is not as sensitive as before, which can easily lead to choking when eating.

Regarding the statement that "Auntie Manul" is the first manul bred successfully in China, Zhang Jinshuo said that the Beijing Zoo had successfully bred manuls in the 1970s, and Mr. Liao Yanfa of Xining People's Park (later Xining Zoo) had also successfully bred manuls.

What kind of animal is the manul?

The manul (scientific name: Otocolobus manul) is an animal of the family Felidae and the genus Otocolobus. It has a short and thick body, similar in size to a domestic cat, and weighs 2-5 kg. The nominate subspecies is heavier, with some individuals exceeding 6 kg, and the Qinghai-Tibet subspecies generally weighs 2-4 kg. The forehead of the manul is relatively wide, the snout is very short, and the pupils are light green. The ears are short and wide, with round and blunt tips, and the two ears are far apart. The fur on the whole body is extremely dense and soft, with abundant down, especially the hair on the abdomen, which is very long, more than twice the length of the back hair. The midline of the back is brown-black, and there are more dark black fine horizontal lines on the back of the body. The head is gray with some black spots, the ventral surface of the body is milky white, the lower part of the neck and between the forelimbs is light brown, and the color of the limbs is slightly lighter than the back. The tail is thick and round, about 20-30 cm long, with obvious 6-8 black ring fine lines on it, and the tip of the tail is long and black.

Manuls live in deserts, wastelands, grasslands or Gobi areas. They can adapt to cold and barren environments. They often live alone in rock crevices or in marmot caves, which are winding and more than 2 meters deep. They are nocturnal and often start to move and hunt at dusk. They have well-developed vision and hearing, and when in danger they quickly flee or hide in temporary earth caves. The long hair and fluff on their abdomens have a good warming effect, which helps them lie on frozen land or snow for a long time, waiting for an opportunity to hunt. Their calls are similar to those of domestic cats, but more wild. They mainly feed on rodents, but also eat hares, pikas, sand grouse, etc.

In my country's "National Key Protected Wildlife List", the manul is a national second-level protected animal and is an endangered animal. Zhang Jinshuo said, "The number one indicator for measuring the endangered degree of an animal is not the number of them left, but the speed of their extinction." Therefore, the International Union for Conservation of Nature's "Red List of Threatened Species" shows that the manul is at least endangered. From the perspective of the global population, the international assessment is 58,000. The manul is also widely distributed, distributed in at least 14 countries, including Russia, Afghanistan, Iran, India and other countries.

Why are cats called manuls?

In fact, the name "Tumanul" has long been discussed in the academic community. Zhang Jinshuo believes that this name comes from the name used by ancient herders when they were grazing or hunting. When herders found a Tumanul, they would often blurt out "dursun" (meaning "stop" in Turkic). The amazing thing is that after hearing it, the Tumanul would stop obediently and look back to find the source of the sound. Therefore, the herders called it "Tuxun", which was mispronounced as "Tumanul".

Some scholars also believe that the manul feeds on pikas, so it is called the manul. This naming method is like "osprey", "snake" and "crab mongoose", which are named after their prey.

Wang Jie, a teacher at the School of Humanities and Social Sciences of Anhui Agricultural University, believes that the manul is very alert, and ancient herders could only hunt the manul when it was unprepared, and it was impossible to let it "stand still" first. At the same time, he consulted historical documents and found that the manul was called "Tu'ermao" in historical records. This name first appeared in the middle of the Qing Dynasty and appeared in trade, pawning, product introduction and other fields. The name "Tu'ermao" was basically not found in Qing Dynasty documents. Wang Jie believes that "Tu'ermao" is likely to be abbreviated from "Tu'ermao". After 1949, for the needs of scientific research and animal protection, "Tu'ermao" without "er" became the standard scientific name because of its objective semantic color.

Wang Jie believes that the ears of the "rabbit mao" are short and round, giving people the impression of a round, short and fat person, with long and fluffy hair, and this short and fat body shape is similar to a "rabbit". The "mao" in "rabbit mao" suggests that it looks like a cat "lynx mao" (also known as "lynx"). "Using the body shape of a familiar herbivore to compare the body shape of a relatively unfamiliar cat" is the logic of naming "rabbit mao".

In Xinjiang, where the manuls live, the name "Tuermanu" in Uyghur is translated as "rabbit-shaped lynx." "Of course, the manuls and lynx belong to the same family but different genera. The manul is not a type of lynx. The word 'manul' reflects the cognitive psychology of people who originally coined the word to classify this species as "lynx."

As to which one is the truth, there is no way to confirm it, but different statements all have their merits.

(Reference materials: People's Daily, China Daily, Beijing News, Xining Wildlife Park, etc.)