Tim writes: the Golden Takin is a rare mammal that inhabits the same mountainous bamboo thicket forests as Giant Panda. There are four subspecies and this is the form that lives in Sichuan (Budorcas taxicolor tibetana) with more blotchy flanks than the true Golden Takin (B.t.bedfordi) from Shaanxi, NW China. The remaining two subspecies are the Mishmi Takin (B.t.taxicolor) from Tibet and Arunchal Pradesh and the Bhutan Takin (B.t.whitei). They resemble both Musk Ox and Wildebeests in size and shape but they are not closely related to either. They are more closely related to sheep and goats. In autumn they descend to lower elevations which makes them easier to find and photograph, though they are much more active at night. I photographed this wild individual in late evening at Tangjiahe in Sichuan, China.
Takins have unusually large nostrils and a huge nasal cavity. This probably serves as a resonating chamber to increase the amplitude of low frequency vocalisations. They are well-known for producing a sneezing roar to communicate with other Takins. I heard this several times when they were apparently alarmed by my presence.
And a final thing. It has been suggested that a pelt of the Golden Takin may have been the origin of the legend of the Golden Fleece in Greek mythology.
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Very pretty animal.
More fascinating travels. Thanks Tim.
The low frequency sound generation from their large nasal cavity makes sense given their very dense bamboo habitat – the lower the call the greater its penetrative power and the further it can travel through the forest (apparently the African jungle elephants’ calls are one octave lower than those of their Savannah cousins).
It would be interesting to know the actual sound frequency of the lowest call for of all Takin subspecies — might these frequencies correlate with the average tree density of their respective woodland habitats?
Thanks Murray. I would be interested to know the frequencies of those calls too but little work seems to have been done on Takins. There is an interesting article on this subject about Saiga Antelopes where Takins are mentioned. It is called “A nose that roars: anatomical specializations and behavioural features of rutting male saiga” here: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2375844/
Tim, thanks for the link.
I think there’s a couple of them in Paignton zoo.!