Russia has been famous for its furs from time immemorial. Sable fur was especially appreciated. Sable fur coats were a sign of wealth and power among its owners. Hundreds of years have passed, but the fur of this little predator is still considered the most valuable in the world! It is not for nothing that it is called soft gold. At all times, sable has been of great commercial importance. In pre-revolutionary Russia, it was hunted by hundreds of thousands of animals a year, which led to a significant reduction in its population. The animal was on the verge of extinction. In the 30s. XX century, a number of comprehensive measures for the protection of sable were adopted, which gave a positive result. After 30 years, the number of this animal reached 290-300 thousand individuals, which made it possible to start fishing again.
What kind of animal and what does it eat?
This animal belongs to the weasel family, therefore it is very similar to the common pine marten. The animal has a long flexible body, the length of which is 30-50 cm, the bushy tail can reach 18-20 cm in length.
The relatively long legs have very sharp claws. The sable is a strong animal that can attack animals that are several times larger than it. So, even small deer become its victims!
Nevertheless, ungulates very rarely become prey for sable. Its main food is small rodents, in particular, vole mice. It also feeds on hares, pikas, and can attack squirrels. The sable successfully hunts for and upland game - black grouse, wood grouse, Siberian grouse, etc. In summer, broods of small birds, such as sparrows, can eat.
It is also worth noting that the sable is a big berry lover. He gladly eats lingonberries, mountain ash, wild raspberries, currant bushes, blueberries. Also eats cedar seeds. To feast on pine nuts, he sometimes deliberately prowls in search of pantry animals, which store them for the winter in large quantities.
In particular, he looks into the hollows of squirrels and burrows of chipmunks. To survive the harsh taiga winters, they sometimes store more than 5 kg. berries and nuts! If the sable finds these winter supplies, then a real feast begins for him.
It has long been known that the sable is very fond of eating honey. Having stumbled upon a nest of wild bees, he eats larvae, combs with honey and even the bees themselves! The wool of this animal is very thick, so bee stings are not afraid of it!
In the wilds of the coniferous taiga
The sable is a strong and dexterous predator, well adapted to life in the taiga. These animals live alone, they try not to intersect with their relatives, since such meetings often end in a fight.
Each individual has its own area, to which not only other relatives, but also other representatives of the mustelids are not allowed. So, the sable dislikes ermines and stoats, which feed on the same food as he himself. Noticing their presence in its hunting area, it tries to drive them away or even strangle them (if it catches them). Sable tries to avoid places where people often appear. Its ideal place to live is impassable windbreaks, dark coniferous forests of spruce, cedar, larch, fir.
Leads mainly a terrestrial lifestyle, rarely climbs trees. He goes out hunting mainly at night, but during lean years and during the day. Sable does not like inclement weather, rain and small frost. On such days, you can stay in your shelter. Each individual has 2-3 temporary “resting places” on the site. Usually these are hollows in trees, holes of other people's animals, voids under stones. It can also rest under a pile of dead wood.
Closer to winter, the sable begins to molt - it changes its skin to winter. It is winter fur that is of the greatest value.
Winter lifestyle
As you know, the winter months are the most difficult for all, without exception, animals inhabiting the endless taiga! It becomes more difficult to get food, it is not easy to survive the harsh taiga winter.
During this period, sable mainly hunt murine rodents. His hearing is well developed. A good instinct allows this predator to smell a mouse through the thickness of the snow. This dexterous animal overtakes the vole with a powerful jerk, tearing the snow with its strong paws. In snowy winters, a sable can dig a whole system of complex tunnels in the snow, where it hunts mice.
It can also set up an ambush near the hare trail and pounce on an unsuspecting hare with a quick dash! Also at night sable successfully hunt on holes of wood grouses and black grouses. Sensing a bird that settled down for the night in a warm hole under the snow, he silently sneaks up and overtakes her. But very rarely birds become victims of the sable, as they sleep very lightly.
However, in winter, sable eats not only animal food. In the thickness of the snow, he finds frozen berries, cedar seeds and eats them with pleasure.
False and real rut. Reproduction
In the spring, from the end of February and throughout March, mating games begin for the sable. Earlier, when there was still no detailed and reliable information about the lifestyle of this animal, it was believed that it was at this time that they had a rut. But as it turned out later, their real rut takes place in the summer. Rutting is accompanied by severe collisions between males, as a result of which weak males can sustain life-threatening injuries.
The female's pregnancy lasts 8-9 months. In the spring of next year, 3-7 small puppies are born to her. Before pupping, the female prepares the nest. Hollows of fallen trees or voids under the cobblestones, which she lined with grass and the skins of the rodents she killed, become a place for him. The first weeks of the sable are helpless and need the care of their mother.
However, they grow very quickly and after three months they leave the mother. But during these 90 days the female must teach them how to hunt. At the age of one month, she brings them live mice and other animals to the nest, on which the sables hone their skills. Then they go hunting with their mother and learn from her example how to get food for themselves. In July they become completely independent and leave the nest in search of “their own” site.
In the harsh conditions of the taiga, sable can live up to 8-9 years. In captivity, they live 2 times longer. Although the sable is a strong predator, it often becomes the prey of other animals. So, in the Far East, the Ussuri marten kharza becomes the most dangerous enemy for him. Throughout its habitat, he should be wary of lynx and wolverine. Very often, the sable becomes a prey to large feathered predators - an eagle owl, an owl, hawks, eagles, owl and some others.
Sable (Martes zibellina) is an agile and strong animal with valuable fur, a representative of the mustelidae family. This predator is a typical inhabitant of mountain and plain taiga. Leads a sedentary solitary lifestyle in the selected area, in case of danger it can move to other territories. The closest relative of the sable is the pine marten.
Sable appearance and description
The body of the sable is elongated, slender and flexible. In length, these predators grow up to 40-60 centimeters and weigh about 2 kilograms. Male sables are usually larger than females. Strongly bushy tail makes up one third of the animal's body length.
The sable's head is wedge-shaped and visually looks large. The animal's muzzle is pointed, the ears of a triangular shape are large, with a wide base, the neck is long and thin. The paws of the sable are wide in shape, but relatively short, therefore, the back of the animal has a characteristic curvature.
The color of the sable skin is variable and depends on the season. In winter, the fur is slightly lighter, in summer it is several shades darker. The color varies from light brown to almost black; the animals have a small light yellow spot on the chest. The brown color becomes darker on the sable paws. In winter, wool covers the paw pads and even the claws of the animal. The fur of the animal is soft, dense and warm, and therefore is of particular value. 
Sable distribution area
Typical are the taiga of Eurasia. These animals are distributed from the Ural Mountains to the Pacific coast. The main part of the territory where sables live belongs to Russia. Also, animals with valuable fur can be found in the North of China and Mongolia, on the Japanese island of Hokkaido, in North Korea.
Sables settle in the mountainous and plain taiga. They find suitable shelters for themselves in littered forests, where firs, cedars, and spruces grow. Sometimes deciduous forests are also chosen for arranging burrows. In mountainous terrain, animals live in bushes, near kurums - rocky placers. For living, they often choose remote and wild places, but they can also settle close to villages.
The predators make a refuge in the crevices of rocks and hollows of fallen old trees, use the voids under the roots. Inside their dwelling, sables are lined with dry leaves or grass, the toilet is equipped separately from the main nesting chamber, but close enough to the burrow.
Sable feeding in the wild
Almost all rodents, but they are more fond of mice and shrews, often hunt pikas and chipmunks, and can feast on bird eggs. Large males often hunt hares, trying to catch musk deer - taiga deer. Predators rarely use protein. From birds, partridges, black grouse, wood grouses, and small passerines become prey for sable. However, in the diet of a sable, birds are a secondary food.
In winter, when food is not easy to get, these predators feed on carrion. When a large animal dies, temporary shelters are even arranged close to the carcass of the sable, narrowing the circle of movement from the burrow to the place of feeding.
They love to eat sable and plant food - cedar pine seeds (pine nuts), lingonberries, blueberries, they happily eat the fruits of blueberries and mountain ash.
In snowy seasons, animals eat plant foods even more often than they catch rodents. Under a thick ball of snow, sables perfectly smell the resinous smell of pine nuts. In the winter season, it is easier to dig them out under the snow than to catch, for example, a vole.
If an animal with valuable fur lives near a large river, it usually waits for fish spawning in summer. These predatory mammals do not know how to fish, but they will not give up prey thrown ashore.
An incredibly tasty treat for all sables - wild bee honey. When an animal finds a hollow of bees, over time it will surely empty it and eat not only honey, but also the bees themselves. 
Sable lifestyle in the wild
Sables are agile and rather strong predators for their size. They lead a terrestrial life, they are most active in the evening and in the morning, but they can hunt at any time of the day. Since sables are active mainly at night, they sleep during the day. Animals with valuable fur prefer to move on the ground, in water or trees go only in case of danger.
In search of food, a sable runs about 3-4 kilometers per day. In winter, this distance can increase up to 10 kilometers, when, in search of food, the animal is forced to lead a semi-nomadic lifestyle. In lean years, even in summer, sables have to run from 10 to 20 kilometers to find suitable food.
Sables mark their territory, within which they hunt for a long period of time. If there is enough food in the selected area, the predators find refuge and equip several temporary burrows. In permanent dwellings, they survive the winter and raise offspring. Sables do not dig shelters on their own, but find suitable burrows and settle there. These animals do not care too much about hiding their own home from prying eyes, often their location gives out a huge number of paw prints. An individual sable plot can cover an area of 150 to 2000 hectares. Apart from the breeding season, these carnivorous mammals are solitary. The animals mark their sites with secretions of glands.
In winter, the animals move under the snow; they may not come to the surface for weeks. In the thickness of the snow, sables make long tunnels, specially dig approaches to their shelters. Thanks to their wide paws, they can easily walk on loose snow. If another predator is hunting the animal, the sable will specially run away by difficult paths to save its skin. Alien males, especially Siberian weasels and ermines, are immediately expelled by the sable from their territories.
Animals with valuable fur do not climb trees very well, but they can jump from one to another closely located tree. Sables are not great swimmers, and therefore they try to avoid water. But these animals have excellent hearing and sense of smell, they sense their prey even under a thick ball of snow. Sables have weak eyesight, and their voice resembles that of a kitten.
Moulting in animals ends in mid-October - sables change their skin to winter. 
Natural enemies of the sable
For the sake of food, no animal or bird hunts sables. However, the predator has two main food competitors - stoat and Siberian weasel. It is with them that the sable has to share mouse-like rodents. If in the process of hunting the animal meets one of the competitors, it may even leave the trapped prey to deal with the unwanted neighbor.
The main risk group among sables is young and old animals that have lost their former speed of movement. They can become prey to almost any predator larger than them. Young sables are threatened by eagles, hawks, owls and other birds of prey.
Breeding sable
False rutting in sables begins in February-March, but mating takes place in June-July. Pregnancy of females is characterized by a long latent phase of development, lasting approximately 250-290 days (9-10 months).
The female mates with only one male sable. He does not leave the "lady" until she drives him away herself. If several males claim to be one female at once, violent fights take place. As a result, the winning sable moves away from the rivals with the female.
Female sables arrange nesting shelters for the birth of babies in stone placers, in hollows of low standing and fallen trees, under the roots of shrubs, and sometimes in earthen burrows. Inside, the expectant mother lines the nest with soft grass, moss or hay, and the wool of eaten rodents.
The litter gives birth to 1 to 7 puppies, usually 3-4. Babies are born blind, weigh about 30 grams with a body length of up to 12 centimeters. The eyes of small sables open on day 30-35, the ears - a little later.
Until about 1 month, the mother feeds sable with breast milk, and already at the age of two months, the cubs begin to try adult food. Babies grow up quickly. Mother often takes grown-up sables with her to teach them how to get food on their own.
The female bravely protects her babies in case of danger and can even attack a dog that is close to the nesting shelter. In case the litter was disturbed, the caring mother transfers the cubs to another nest.
At the end of summer, when the female's next rut begins, the brood breaks up and each sable begins to lead an independent life. Young animals with valuable fur reach sexual maturity at the age of 2-3 years and reproduce up to 13-15 years.
In the wild, sables live for 8-10 years, in captivity - up to 15 years.
Sable subspecies
Scientists identify about 17 varieties of sables, which not only have different color and quality of wool, but also different sizes. Barguzin view(Martes zibellina princeps, found on the eastern shores of Lake Baikal) is considered the most valuable. The Barguzin sable has a rich black skin color, soft and silky fur. Subspecies, common in other areas, are distinguished by lighter shades of wool. For example, Sakhalin(Martes zibellina sahalinensis), Yenisei(Martes zibellina yenisejensis) and sayan(Martes zibellina sajanensis) sables have coarser and shorter fur.
According to the value of fur, the Barguzin sable traditionally takes the first place, followed by Yakut(Martes zibellina jakutensis) and Kamchatka(Martes zibellina kamtshadalica) subspecies.
In nature, there is white sable- a very rare member of the weasel family. An animal with incredibly valuable fur lives in an impenetrable taiga; it is impossible to breed white sables in captivity.
All sable species are carnivores. 
Sable fur trade and trade
In the 19th century, sables inhabited the territory from the Pacific Ocean to Scandinavia, but today these animals are not found in Europe. Due to intensive fishing in the 20th century, the number and distribution of sables has significantly decreased.
The thick, silky and beautiful sable fur is highly prized. It is sometimes called "soft gold". Sable skins are used to sew luxurious fur coats and hats.
Just 200 years ago, the sable fishery was about 200,000 individuals per year. As a result of predatory extermination, the animal with valuable fur was on the verge of extinction. In an attempt to preserve the number of these animals in the wild, special protective measures have been taken. For a while, hunting for sables was completely banned, predators began to breed in reserves and settle in their ancestral territories. As a result of such measures, it was possible to slightly restore the population.
Nowadays, hunting sables is only permitted with a license. Also, these animals with valuable fur are bred on fur farms.
At the moment, sable fur is the most expensive in the world.
Keeping a sable at home
Sables are easy to tame and quickly get used to people. However, only those animals that are raised by humans from almost blind age or raised by a manual female become absolutely tame. These beautiful animals are very active and during the transition period (usually lasts 2-3 months) they can show aggression. This applies to sables that have managed to experience life in the wild. In this case, you just need to wait a little while the predator adapts to the conditions of life in captivity.
Sables are quick-witted animals, they are easy to educate. The animal is easy to train to the tray, it does not have the unpleasant odor inherent in other members of the weasel family. In the conditions of an apartment or house, the animal needs to equip a spacious shelter - buy a cage or prepare a balcony, covering it with a metal mesh. Sables love to play, and therefore they cannot do without a large number of different plastic toys. Also, these animals get along well with other pets.
If possible, sables should be taken for a walk as often as possible. It does not have to be a street; a separate room in a house or apartment is also fine.
With good care in an apartment, a sable can live up to 20 years.
Sable (lat.Martes zibellina) is a mammal of the weasel family.
Siberian peoples from time immemorial paid tribute with sables - first to the Chinese, then to the Mongols. After the development of the Siberian expanses of Russia, the glory of owning sable lands passed to her: they began to call sables "Russians", their skins were necessarily included in the number of ambassadorial gifts. Sable furs were used for hats, fur coats or their lining, "walking in sables" was considered prestigious in Russia and Europe, a sign of high prosperity.
Appearance
In appearance, it resembles a marten, being its close relative. The body is elongated, very flexible, on relatively short legs, which is why the animal constantly keeps with a strongly arched back. Compared to marten, the sable is stockier, with shorter ears, very wide paws with completely covered with wool soles, with a relatively short tail (its end does not protrude beyond the ends of the legs extended back), making up about a third of the body length, always drooping down. The head is wedge-shaped, with a pointed muzzle, looks very large, especially in summer. The ears are large, triangular in shape with a wide base.
The animal is very strong, fast and agile. Males reach a length of 38-56 cm with a tail, the length of which is 9-17 cm. Body weight ranges from 900 to 1800 g. Females reach 35-51 cm in length. The tail length is 7.5-12 cm. The weight of the fair sex is slightly less than that of the stronger half. The animal's paws are wide. The sable is a foot toe-walking animal with wide legs, the soles of which are densely covered with coarse hair (especially in winter). In the daytime, the sable sees poorly and is insecure, but at night it shows great dexterity. If necessary, he can dive into the snow and move in its thickness.
Fur differs at different times of the year.
In winter, it is fluffy, very thick and unusually tender. By the summer, the fur thins and becomes slick. Fur color ranges from light to dark brown. The inhabitants of the Baikal taiga, Yakut and Kamchatka have almost black fur. This is the most valuable color for fishermen. Under the throat of the animal there is a pale yellow spot with blurred borders.
"Fur" - the color is very light, sandy-yellow or pale yellow - the cheapest. Intermediate colors: "collar" - brown tone with a dark strap on the back, lighter sides and a large bright throat spot.
Winter sable fur is exceptionally beautiful black-brown color, the head is lighter than the body (how sable differs from martens). It is very good even in light-colored subspecies. Winter sable fur is unusually thick, fluffy, delicate, lighter than summer, covers pads and claws on the paws. A vaguely defined yellow spot is located on the throat and chest. The tail and paws are black-brown.
In summer, the sable looks completely different, it seems thin, long, on high legs, with a long tail, with a disproportionately large head, but still wide paws.
Habitat
Sable lives almost throughout the taiga zone of Eurasia from the northern Cis-Urals to the Pacific coast and adjacent islands. Its main part of its range lies in Russia, covering the entire vast territory of Siberia and the Far East. From other countries, sable is found only in Mongolia, in northeastern China, in Korea and on the northernmost island of Japan - Hokkaido. Once the sable lived throughout this vast area, the area of distribution was almost continuous. Due to intensive fishing, by the beginning of the 20th century, the range sharply decreased: the areas inhabited by this animal accounted for hardly 10% of the territories previously occupied by it, the range turned into several isolated and highly disunited foci. Later, a partial restoration of the range took place, but even now the areas of distribution of sable over the area hardly make up half of its natural range.
Sable is a typical inhabitant of the mountain and plain taiga, especially the cedar forests, where it is attracted by the relative abundance of rodents and the harvest of nuts. Less often, sable settles in the mountains in the thickets of cedar elfin, in the northern woodlands, and in Kamchatka in birch forests. Sable never leaves the coniferous taiga.
He especially prefers dark coniferous forests, where spruce and fir in combination with cedar form the basis of the so-called “black taiga” - damp, gloomy, with a highly developed moss cover, rather littered with windblows. On the vast East Siberian plateau, where light coniferous woodland prevails, sable also lives in larch forests. In mountainous areas, this animal is common among "kurums" - rocky placers, tongues cutting into the taiga and overgrown with bushes: in endless labyrinths among stones, the animal finds inaccessible shelters and an abundance of rodents, and in winter - a specific microclimate: a thick layer of snow covering the placer creates its depth is favorable temperature regime. Sable is also common among pine forests, along the edges of moss bogs. Where it is of little concern, it is found in the forests that come close to the Photo villages and mines. Once a winter shelter for a sable was found even under the building of a rest house closed for the winter. This small predator, unlike the marten, avoids only large cities and especially active logging areas.
Lifestyle
A typical inhabitant of the Siberian taiga. Dexterous and very strong predator for its size. Leads a terrestrial lifestyle. Moves by jumping. Footprints - paired large prints ranging in size from 5x7 to 6x10 cm. Jump length - 30-70 cm. Climbs trees well. Has excellent hearing and sense of smell, vision is weaker. Voice - rumbling, like a cat. Easy to walk on loose snow. It is most active in the morning and in the evening. As a rule, it lives in cedars, in the upper reaches of mountain rivers, close to the ground - in the thickets of elfin woods, among stone placers, occasionally rises into the crowns of trees.
In the life of a sable, two periods alternate - sedentary and nomadic. In the first of them, the animal is tied to a certain area, within the boundaries of which it keeps most often all its life. Sable hunts on its individual plot, which leaves only in exceptional cases, being in general a very sedentary animal. In a hungry winter time, when it takes a lot of time to find food places, the animal leads an almost semi-nomadic lifestyle.
Only forest fires, deforestation or some other serious reason can force him to leave the site. Although some, mainly adult animals make migrations and, as the tagging showed, they go 120-150 km in a few months, sometimes crossing high mountain ranges.
On a vast habitat, the sable has several permanent shelters, brood (summer) and winter, and even more temporary ones. This predator almost never makes a haven himself, but uses what the taiga provides him, only adapting various kinds of voids to his needs. These are most often niches under inverted areas, between stones in placers, hollows in lying logs or standing trees. In winter, a snowy burrow 2-3 meters long leads to the ground nest. The owner hardly disguises the approach to the shelter: it is usually easy to find an inhabited shelter along a fan of converging paths.
A permanent shelter, in which the animal lives for 2-3 years in a row, always comes with a nesting chamber. Its bottom is covered with litter - the dust of the same well, well-trained hay, or even a grass nest, “borrowed” from a vole, which the sable prudently ate before. Not far from the burrow, a restroom is set up, to which a trail or snowy trench leads.
The sable is predominantly a land animal, well adapted to life in snowy winters. It perfectly orientates itself in cavities under the snow, and thanks to its wide paws it moves quite freely on its surface. When a dog is chasing a sable, he runs away from it along the ground, picking up heaps of stones or dead wood that detain the enemy. On trees, the sable feels insecure, climbs worse than the pine marten, rarely climbs on them of its own accord. He can jump from tree to tree only if their crowns are closed, and therefore, having climbed a tree, he descends from it. In search of food, the animal usually moves in calm, even leaps 50-80 centimeters long, but when avoiding pursuit, the distance between the prints reaches 3-4 meters. This small predator goes into the water only in case of extreme need, because of the rapidly wetting fur it swims with difficulty.
Sable goes in search of food at any time of the day. When there is a lot of food, the sable runs only 2-3 kilometers per day, but if the animal is lucky and it stumbles upon the remains of a large animal, then the small predator settles in this place for 3-5 days, resting a few meters from the unexpected " gift of fate ”and trample between the shelter and the“ dining room ”a well-visible path. In lean years, the daily run reaches 10-20 kilometers, the animal visits all the places where it previously managed to find food, and eats up the remnants of its previous meals.
Of the senses, the sable has the best developed sense of smell, which allows it to unmistakably find food under the thickness of the snow.
Nutrition
Going out to hunt, the sable necessarily runs along each trunk of a fallen tree lying in its path, examining the twisted roots, snags, rubble, potholes, where it finds burrows of mouse-like rodents, which make up its main food.
In the diet there are mouse-like rodents, mainly the red vole (in the south, red-gray). To the east of the Yenisei and in the Sayan Mountains, the pika plays an important role in the nutrition of sables. Often eats squirrels, attacks hares. Destroys several million squirrels in the region per year.
Chicken birds are of great importance - partridge, black grouse, as well as small passerines - adults, chicks, clutches of eggs. In the Far East in summer, it feeds on spawning anadromous fish - however, it does not catch them itself, but only picks them up on the shore. The role of squirrels, and even more so of chipmunks and pikas, is insignificant, somewhat increasing only when the cedar harvest fails. Unlike many other predators, sable catches and eats moles and shrews in significant quantities. Large males manage to hunt hares. Sable is a great hunter of bee honey: having found a hollow with bees in winter, he visits it until he destroys all its contents - both combs with honey and larvae, and adult bees.
In winter, the sable often feeds on carrion: near the corpse of a large ungulate, several animals usually feed, making temporary shelters nearby.
The sable is active at dusk, at night, but often hunts during the day. The sable also feeds on plant foods. Favorite food - pine nuts, mountain ash, blueberries, and sable eats berries of lingonberries, blueberries, bird cherry, rose hips, currants.
Pine nuts occupy an important place in the diet of the sable. Having found a chipmunk with a stock of nuts in winter, the sable eats up the owner of these stocks and his food. According to prof. P. A. Manteuffel, he first of all eats away the brain and liver of his victim, and then the muscles.
Reproduction
Nesting shelters in the hollows of fallen and standing trees, in stone placers, under the roots. Pupping in the north in the first half of May, in the south in April. The animals reach sexual maturity at the age of two to three years and reproduce up to 13-15 years. Mating in June - July, gestation 250-290 days. There are from one to seven puppies in a litter, usually 3-4. Molting ends in mid-October.
Rutting for sables takes place in summer. During mating games, he publishes a kind of meowing sounds. In the western part of the range, where the sable is found in the same habitats with the marten, they interbreed with each other, resulting in the so-called kiduses, or kidases. In some hybrids, the characteristics of the marten predominate, in others, the sable.
The duration of pregnancy is 8-9 months, while there is a long delay in embryonic development, the so-called "latency period". Sable cubs (from 1-2 to 7) appear in April - May, and live in permanent nests - in hollows, stumps, under a jail, much less often in crevices of rocks and in earthen burrows, in winter, moreover, under the protection of a deep, loose snow.
As a brood nest, the mother sable uses one of the permanent shelters, only more carefully lining it with hay, moss, and the wool of eaten rodents. Newborns are helpless, weighing about 30 grams. By the end of the first month of life, the ears open. The eyes of the cubs erupt on the 30-36th day. From this moment, the sable animals gradually begin to feed themselves with meat, learn to catch a bird or mouse brought by their mother. The female protects her offspring, boldly attacks even a dog if it approaches the nest. If the brood in the nest is disturbed, the caring mother drags the cubs to another shelter. At the age of one and a half months, when the young first leave the nest, they are still very awkward, they cannot climb trees. By July, when the next rut begins in the female, they almost reach the size of adults, move on to an independent solitary life. Puberty in young animals occurs in the second or third year.
The fertility of the sable cannot be called high, so hunting for sable must be strictly regulated to avoid a reduction in the population. The population density in herbaceous and mossy cedar forests reaches 150 and even 200 per 100 km2. Individual hunting area for sable from 150-200 hectares to 1500-2000 hectares, sometimes even more.
In captivity, sables live up to 15-18 years, in nature up to 6-8 years. Young animals are threatened by owls, eagles, and other large birds of prey. If a dog or a person approaches a nest with a brood, the female growls muffledly, warning the cubs of danger. And when it is necessary to fiercely defend against a larger animal pressing on it, the sable “chirps”.
Sable is famous for its valuable fur, which has a high commercial value. As a result, the animal was mercilessly exterminated in the 20th century. The sable, who lived near Lake Baikal, especially got it. His jet-black fur with white hair ends was priced at $ 80-90 a pelt. They caught the animals in special traps. They shot very rarely, so as not to spoil the expensive fur. By the 30s of the 20th century, there was practically no sable left on the territory of Eastern Siberia. Nowadays, this species has a special protected status in accordance with the International Red Book. But it is very difficult to fight against poaching in remote taiga regions. At the end of the first decade of the XXI century, there were 15-20 animals per 100 sq. km of taiga.
In 1929, at the Moscow Zoo, offspring was first obtained from sables, and after the scientific development of the conditions for their care and maintenance, they began to be bred on fur farms, as a result of which sables became an object of industrial fur farming. In addition, sables were released into the regions of Siberia, Transbaikalia and the Far East suitable for them, where they took root well. Their numbers have increased so much that in many places they have become higher than 100 years ago. Temporary hunting bans and the creation of state sable reserves played an important role. The Barguzinsky and Kondo-Sosvinsky reserves and a number of other institutions have done a lot to restore the sable.
Its closest relative is the pine marten. Few representatives of the animal world are able to boast of such nobility, such elegance and harmony that sable possesses.
Sable (animal): description
The body of males reaches 60 cm in length and weighs 2 kg. Females are much more graceful, they are inferior to males in size. The body of the sable is slightly elongated, short legs, therefore, the back of the animal is arched all the time. Paws are wide, perfectly adapted to terrestrial life. The animal has a very bushy tail, whose length reaches 20 cm.
The sable has a triangular head, rather large. The muzzle is slightly pointed, framed by large triangular ears.
The real wealth of this animal is its thick lush fur, which becomes even thicker in winter, covering its claws and paw pads. In summer, the color of the animal's body is monochromatic, dark brown, the legs and tail are slightly darker. In winter, its coat becomes paler. A spot that stands out in a light shade often appears in the throat area, which is not observed in summer.
Due to different color options, the animal got different names: "fur" - the lightest, "head" - black sable, "collar" - intermediate color.
Spreading
Sable is an animal (photo presented in this article) that lives in the taiga region of Eurasia. The bulk lives in the Far East and Siberia. In addition, a small number of animals exist in Korea, Mongolia, in the northeastern part of China, in the north of the island of Hokkaido (Japan).
If the animal used to live in this area in huge numbers, then at the present moment, due to intensive fishing, its range has sharply decreased. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the population density was at least 10%. The coniferous taiga is the home of the sable. The animal never goes beyond its limits. It can be found in dark coniferous forests, where spruce, fir, cedar grow, where it is dark and damp. He chooses hard-to-reach, cluttered places covered with stones, moss, branches.
Lifestyle
The sable is a unique animal that leads a nomadic animal and the animal is tied to a certain area and rarely goes beyond its borders in its entire life. Forest fires, natural disasters, lack of food, mass can only force the animal sable, interesting facts about the life of which are given in this article, to leave its habitat.
The animal on its site has a large number of temporary shelters and several permanent ones. The latter are subdivided into winter and brood. It is characteristic of the sable that he does not build his own houses, but uses natural voids.
He selects gorges between stones, niches underneaths, hollows in lying logs or trees. In winter, he makes his way to his nest under the snow. The animal does not hide the burrow, which means that it can be easily found by the huge number of tracks that converge into a common place.
Nutrition
Sable is an almost omnivorous animal. Basically, various rodents, mice, shrews, moles, chipmunks become its food. At times he catches pikas between the rocks, sometimes he eats squirrels. Large males can even hunt hares. Small passerines (adults, chicks, eggs), black grouse, partridge can become food of the animal from birds. Although he hunts them extremely rarely.
Sables that live in the Far East can also feed on fish. During spawning, the animals go to the river banks, where they pick up dead fish. In winter, when it is more difficult to get food, the sable feeds on carrion. If a large animal dies, a huge number of these small animals feed on its carrion. Especially for this, they arrange temporary shelters for themselves nearby.
Sable will also enjoy honey. Having found a hollow of bees, he will come to him until the moment when he completely devastates him (larvae, honeycomb, as well as the bees themselves). Although his main food is berries and fruits. He often steals pine nuts from the hollows of other animals; in the winter season, from under the snow, he extracts berries left on the branches (lingonberries, blueberries, cloudberries).
Reproduction
Sable is an animal, the fertilization and reproduction of which scientists have studied for a long time. Small sables are born in spring, mainly in April, in the amount of 2-5 individuals. Birth takes place in one of the specially equipped shelters, which the female lining with moss, wool and hay. Newborns weigh about 30 g and are completely helpless. In a month, they begin to distinguish a variety of sounds, and also open their eyes.
Subspecies
There are several subspecies of animals that differ in habitat, fur and color:
- Sayan;
- West Siberian;
- Sakhalin sable;
- Yenisei;
- Kamchatka sable.
Fishing
Sable is an animal prized for its very thick fur. Such wealth brought many troubles to the animal. Its skin is highly prized. It became known as “soft gold”. Consequently, these animals were constantly hunted. Because of this, its numbers have declined significantly.
Hats and fur coats are sewn from his fur. at the same time, they did not value sable fur and upholstered them from the bottom of the skis. Local hunters tried to keep the livestock of animals. Hunting for him was carried out only once every 3 years to restore the population.
Hunting methods
A sable is an animal that is trapped or hunted with huskies. In the latter case, the animal is driven onto a tree, where it is already shot. But if the sable hides in the thickets, it is almost impossible to drive it out of there. Then the hunters place a net around this place, after which they begin to drive it out with a probe. This method of hunting is called obmet.
Taming a sable
It should be noted that sable lends itself easily to domestication. An animal at home resembles a cat in behavior. This animal very quickly gets used to its owner. At the moment, sables are bred mainly artificially, at fur farms. In captivity, a sable (pet) can live up to 18 years.
Population recovery
Preserving the number of the animal, attempts were made to breed it in nature reserves, after which it was resettled to other territories. This turned out to be a daunting task as it was difficult at first to get offspring. It was necessary to study the habits of the animal, making a lot of effort.
When planning the reintroduction of an animal, it is necessary to carefully study the territory of its release, and also check whether it has lived there before. A change in the situation (fires, deforestation) is of great importance. After re-production in this area, the fishery must be stopped for some time.
To determine the territory for the sable, the presence of a food base, nesting places, competitors of the animal and predators is of decisive importance.
captive
Some difficulties arise when breeding animals at home. A sable is a mobile animal, therefore, it needs a large area for life. The cage must be specially equipped: provide a reliable bolt, enough space, tighten the windows with a metal mesh. The animal is very smart, he can open the lock without difficulty. To keep him from getting bored, you can provide plastic toys, because the animal loves to play.
A beautiful wild animal - sable lives in the dense taiga forests. This animal has many subspecies, which differ depending on the size, color and quality of the fur, as well as the area of residence.
The subspecies are named according to their habitat, for example: Angarsk, Yenisei, Kamchatka. The Barguzin sable differs from its counterparts in its relatively small size and dark skin color.
Barguzin is the owner of valuable fur
predatory an animal belonging to the weasel family. Nature has endowed him with beautiful fur. Very soft and light, silky to the touch, the fur has good durability. Due to its characteristics, it is valued higher than the skins of other sable subspecies.
The color palette of fur varies from very dark to light brown. There is a light spot on the neck. The darker the color of the skin, the higher it is price at fur auctions.
Sable hunting
The fur of excellent quality and beauty was made by the Barguzin sable object ruthless extermination since ancient times. They hunted sable everywhere in Siberia, despite the decreasing number of individuals, therefore, in the first half of the 20th century, this valuable animal was almost gone in some taiga areas.
The situation has now changed. Implemented security measures, the fight against poaching is being carried out, strict control and frequency of hunting is introduced. All these measures contribute to the fact that the disappearance of Barguzin is no longer threatened.
Until deep snow is established, fur-bearing animals are hunted using dogs likes. After the snow falls, they switch to traps. During the season, workers at the fishery catch 40-50 animals.
The lifestyle of the Barguzin sable
This beast is pretty strong for its small size. Dexterous and nimble, he moves in leaps up to 70 cm long.
The paws of the animal are wide and covered with thick fur, so it is convenient for him to wade through the snow without falling through. Sable possesses excellent hearing and smell. It is most active in the morning and evening.
Habitat
Barguzinsky sable got its name from its habitat - on Barguzinsky ridge off the coast of Lake Baikal. Now its range has expanded significantly, the animal can be found both in the Siberian taiga and in the Far East.
Barguzin prefers difficult to pass coniferous forests, especially cedar. He settles in cluttered places where there are stone deposits, dense bushes, and fallen trees.
Under the roots of upturned trees or in their hollows, the beast most often makes its lair. The animal keeps a cozy mink clean.
Basically, the sable moves on the ground, sometimes it climbs along the trunks into the crowns of trees. His territory he limits marks, makes its own paths there and tries to get rid of other small predators. The animal lives on the chosen area for 2-3 years, then leaves and chooses a new habitat.
Reproduction
The animals are ready for mating from the age of two to three years and acquire offspring up to about 15 years. After mating, the male stays close to the female and brings her prey so that she can maintain strength during pregnancy.
Cubs are born blind and helpless in spring, 3-4 pieces per litter. The female takes care of her offspring touchingly. She desperately rushes at any enemy if the kids are in danger. The sable are in the den for up to one and a half months, then they begin to go out and explore the world around them. In the middle of summer, the grown young growth begins an independent life.
What does the barguzin animal eat?
Barguzin sable can be attributed to omnivorous mammals, although the basis of its food is small animals:
- vole mice;
- pikas rodents;
- young rabbits;
- chipmunks;
- proteins.
Sometimes a sable can even catch a capercaillie or black grouse, which spend the night in a burrow under the snow. He can taste and carrion, as well as fish washed ashore.
Despite the predatory nature, the sable is not averse to feasting on pine nuts and taiga berries: lingonberries, cloudberries, blueberries. The beast will not refuse on occasion, and the honey of wild bees.
But sable itself as food can be caught by large owls, martens, bears.
Breeding on fur farms
There are many difficulties in breeding and raising a predator in captivity. Despite the observance of all the requirements for keeping, only a fourth of the females are capable of conceiving. The stressful state of animals caused by being in cages leads to more late puberty. It is not always possible to maintain a temperature regime in enclosures close to natural weather conditions.
The quality and beauty of the skins directly depend on the lighting, so it is necessary that all cells are illuminated by the sun, which in a large farm can be problematic... The animals should be provided with a varied and balanced diet:
- meat products;
- milk;
- vegetables;
- fruit;
- vitamin supplements.
Despite the difficulties of captive sable breeding, this business is developing successfully and gives tangible results. In addition, there are farms that raise animals specifically for further resettlement in nature and replenishment of the population, if necessary. This measure is intended to protect wild animal from complete extermination.
