Bat-Oyun Tserenpurev, Ito Takehiko Y, Purevdorj Yadamjav, Shinoda Masato, Ishii Satomi, Buho Hoshino, Morinaga Yuki
Information and Research Institute of Meteorology, Hydrology and Environment, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
Arid Land Research Center, Tottori University, Tottori, Japan.
Anim Sci J. 2018 Jan;89(1):219-226. doi: 10.1111/asj.12842. Epub 2017 Aug 18.
Airag, (Fermented horse milk) is a traditional milk product in Mongolia. Herders separate foals from their dams and tie them at a milking site during the daytime to produce airag. To evaluate the effects of horse management on the movement of dams, we tracked three dams in a herd in camp 1 during summer and camp 2 during autumn of 2013 and analyzed their movements during the milking (daytime) and non-milking (nighttime) periods in an area famous for its high-quality airag. Dams were gathered every 1.7 ± 0.0 h between 07.46 and 15.47 hours at the milking sites and milked 4.6 ± 0.2 times/day during the study period (86 days). Daily cumulative and maximum linear distances from the milking sites were longer (P < 0.01) during the non-milking period than during the milking period. Daily home ranges were 91 and 26 times greater during the non-milking period (P < 0.001) in camps 1 and 2, respectively. The greater range during the non-milking period would reflect the spatial distributions of water, salt and forage. The dams initially used similar areas and gradually shifted their daily home ranges after several days. This shift suggests that the dams grazed farther afield as forage availability declined around the milking site. For better airag production and sustainable pasture use, our results provide insights useful for evaluating the effects of milking management on vegetation and soil in those pastures, for selecting the appropriate milking times and frequency, and for choosing the right timing to shift milking sites.
艾日格（发酵马奶）是蒙古的一种传统奶制品。牧民会在白天将马驹与母马分开，并把母马拴在挤奶地点以生产艾日格。为了评估马匹管理对母马活动的影响，我们在2013年夏季追踪了营地1中的一群母马中的3匹，秋季追踪了营地2中的3匹，并分析了它们在以优质艾日格闻名地区的挤奶（白天）和非挤奶（夜间）时段的活动情况。在研究期间（86天），母马在07.46至15.47时之间每隔1.7±0.0小时被聚集到挤奶地点，并每天挤奶4.6±0.2次。非挤奶时段离挤奶地点的每日累计和最大直线距离比挤奶时段更长（P<0.01）。在营地1和2中，非挤奶时段的每日活动范围分别比挤奶时段大91倍和26倍（P<0.001）。非挤奶时段更大的活动范围反映了水、盐和草料的空间分布。母马最初使用相似的区域，几天后其每日活动范围逐渐发生变化。这种变化表明，随着挤奶地点周围草料供应减少，母马会到更远的地方觅食。为了更好地生产艾日格并实现牧场的可持续利用，我们的研究结果为评估挤奶管理对这些牧场植被和土壤的影响、选择合适的挤奶时间和频率以及选择转移挤奶地点的正确时机提供了有用的见解。
