Sable
Encyclopedia
The sable is a species
of marten
which inhabits forest
environments, primarily in Russia
from the Ural Mountains
throughout Siberia
, in northern Mongolia
and China
and on Hokkaidō
in Japan
. Its range in the wild originally extended through European Russia
to Poland
and Scandinavia
. It has historically been harvested for its highly valued fur
, which remains a luxury good
to this day. While hunting of wild animals is still common in Russia, most fur in the market is now commercially farmed
.
origin and to have entered most Western European via the early medieval fur trade. Thus the Russian
соболь (sobol) and Polish
soból became the German
Zobel, Dutch
Sabel; the French
zibelline Spanish
cibelina, cebellina, Finnish
soopeli and Mediaeval Latin zibellina derive from the Italian
form (zibellino). The English
and Medieval Latin word sabellum comes from the Old French
sable or saible.
The term has become a generic description for some black-furred animal breeds, such as sable cat
s or rabbit
s, and for the colour black
in heraldry
.
display geographic variation in fur colour: fur color ranges from light to dark brown, with individual fur color being lighter ventrally and darker on the back and legs. Japanese sables (known locally as クロテン or kuroten) in particular are marked with black on their legs and feet. Individuals also display a light patch of fur on their throat which may be gray, white, or a pale yellow. The fur is softer and silkier than that of American marten
s. Sables greatly resemble pine marten
s in size appearance, but have more elongated heads, longer ears and proportionately shorter tails. Their skulls are similar to those of pine martens, but are larger and more robust with more arched zygomatic arch
es.
, pine
, larch
, cedar, and birch
in both lowland and mountainous terrain. They defend home territories that may be anything from 4 to 30 km² (1.5 to 11.6 ) in size, depending on the local terrain and availability of food. However, when resources are scarce they may move considerable distances in search of food, with travel rates of 6 to 12 km (3.7 to 7.5 ) per day having been recorded.
Sables live in burrows near riverbanks and in the thickest parts of woods. These burrows are commonly made more secure by being dug among tree roots. They are good climbers of cliffs and trees. They are primarily crepuscular
, hunting during the hours of twilight, but become more active in the day during the mating season. Their dens are well hidden, and lined by grass and shed fur, but may be temporary, especially during the winter, when the animal travels more widely in search of prey.
Sables are omnivore
s, and their diet varies seasonally. In the summer, they eat large numbers of hares and other small mammals. In winter, when they are confined in their retreats by frost and snow, they feed on wild berries, rodent
s, hares, and even small musk deer
. They also hunt ermine
, small weasel
s and birds. Sometimes, sables follow the tracks of wolves and bear
s and feed on the remains of their kills. They eat molluscs such as slugs, which they rub on the ground in order to remove the mucus
. Sables also occasionally eat fish, which they catch with their front paws.
They hunt primarily by sound and scent, and they have an acute sense of hearing
. Sables mark their territory with scent produced in gland
s on the abdomen. Predators on the sable include a number of larger carnivores, such as wolves, foxes, wolverine
s, tiger
s, lynx
es, eagle
s and large owl
s.
s. Males dig metre long shallow grooves in the snow, frequently accompanied with urination. Males fight violently with each other for females. Females enter estrus in spring. Mating can last as long as eight hours. After insemination
, the blastocyst
does not implant into the uterine wall of the female. Instead, implantation occurs eight months later; although gestation
lasts 245 to 298 days, embryonic development requires only 25–30 days. Sables birth in tree hollows, where they build nests composed of moss, leaves, and dried grass. Litters number one to seven young, although litters of two or three are most common. Males assist females by defending their territories and providing food.
Sables are born with eyes closed and skin covered in a very thin layer of hair. Newborn cubs weigh between 25 and 35 g (0.881849052627799 and 1.2 ) and average 10 to 12 cm (3.9 to 4.7 ) in length. They open their eyes after 30 to 36 days, and leave the nest shortly afterwards. At seven weeks old, the young are weaned and given regurgitated food. They reach sexual maturity at the age of two years. They have been reported to live for up to twenty two years on fur farms, and up to eighteen years in the wild.
Sables can interbreed with pine marten
s. This has been observed in the wild, where the two species overlap in the Ural Mountains
, and is sometimes deliberately encouraged on fur farms. The resulting hybrid, referred to as a kidus, is slightly smaller than a pure sable, with coarser fur, but otherwise similar markings, and a long bushy tail. Kiduses are typically sterile
, although there has been one recorded instance of a female kidus successfully breeding with a male pine marten.
, where they are sympatric with European pine martens. They are also found on Sakhalin
.
In Mongolia, sables occur in the Altai Mountains and in the surrounding forests of Lake Hovsgol, the latter being contiguous with the Trans-Baikal boreal forest region from where the most valuable sable pelts come from. In China, sables occur in a limited area of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. In northeastern China, sables are now limited to the Daxinganling Mountains. In eastern Heilongjiang, the persistence of sables is suspected in the Xiaoxinganling Mountains. Sables also occur in Hokkaido and on the Korean peninsula.
Because of the variable appearance of the sable in different geographic localities, there has been some debate over the exact number of subspecies that can be clearly identified. Mammal Species of the World
recognises seventeen different subspecies, but other recent scholarly sources have identified anything from seven to thirty.
Sable fur has been a highly valued item in the fur trade
since the early Middle Ages
, and is generally considered to have the most beautiful and richly tinted pelt among martens. Sable fur is unique because it retains its smoothness in every direction it is stroked. The fur of other animals feels rough stroked opposite the grain. A wealthy 17th century Russian diplomat once described the sable as "A beast full marvelous and prolific ... a beast that the Ancient Greeks and Romans called the Golden Fleece
." Russian sables would typically be skinned over the mouth with no incision being made on the body. The feet would be retained, so as to keep as much fur as possible. Byzantine
priests would wear sable for their rituals.
In England
, sable fur was held with great estimation. Henry I
was presented with a wreath of black sable by the Bishop of Lincoln, for no less than £100, a considerable sum at the time. Sable fur was a favourite of Henry VIII
, who once received five sets of sable fur worth £400 from Emperor Charles V. Henry later decreed that sable fur was to be worn only by nobles exceeding the rank of viscount
. The Russian conquest of Siberia
was largely spurred by the availability of sables there. Ivan Grozny once demanded an annual tribute of 30,000 sable pelts from the newly conquered Kazan Tatars, though they never sent more than a thousand, as Russia at the time was unable to enforce the tribute due to wars with Sweden and Poland. The best skins were obtained in Irkutsk
, Kamchatka, and Lapland
.
According to Atkinson's Travels in Asiatic Russia, Barguzin, on Lake Baikal
, was famed for its sables. The fur of this population is a deep jet black with white tipped hair. $80–90 were sometimes demanded by hunters for a single skin. Sable fur would continue to be the most favoured fur in Russia, until the discovery of sea otter
s in the Kamchatka peninsula, whose fur was considered even more valuable. Sable furs were coveted by the nobility of the Russian Empire
, with very few skins ever being found outside the country during that period. Some however would be privately obtained by Jewish traders and brought annually to the Leipzig
fair. Sometimes, sable hunting was a job given to convicts exiled to Siberia.
Imperial Russian fur companies produced 25,000 skins annually, while the Hudson's Bay Company
produced 125,000 sable pelts annually, with nearly nine tenths of the produce being exported to France
and Germany
. The civic robes of the Lord Mayor and Corporation of London
, which were worn on State occasions, were trimmed with sable. As with minks and martens, sables were commonly caught in steel traps. Intensified hunting in Russia in the 19th and early 20th century caused a severe enough decline in numbers that a five year ban on hunting was instituted in 1935, followed by a winter-limited licensed hunt. These restrictions together with the development of sable farms have allowed the species to recolonize much of its former range and attain healthy numbers.
The Soviet Union
allowed Old Believer communities to continue their traditional way of life on the condition that they hand over all sable skins they produced. The dissolution of the Soviet Union
led to an increase of hunting and poaching in the 1990s, in part because wild caught Russian furs are considered the most luxurious and demand the highest prices on the international market. Currently, the species has no special conservation status according to the IUCN, though the isolated Japanese subspecies M. zibellina brachyurus is listed as "data-deficient".
Because of its great expense, sable fur is typically integrated into various clothes fashions: to decorate collars, sleeves, hems and hats (see, for example the shtreimel
). The so-called Kolinsky sable-hair brushes used for watercolor or oil painting are not manufactured from sable hair, but from that of the siberian weasel
.
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
of marten
Marten
The martens constitute the genus Martes within the subfamily Mustelinae, in family Mustelidae.-Description:Martens are slender, agile animals, adapted to living in taigas, and are found in coniferous and northern deciduous forests across the northern hemisphere. They have bushy tails, and large...
which inhabits forest
Taiga
Taiga , also known as the boreal forest, is a biome characterized by coniferous forests.Taiga is the world's largest terrestrial biome. In North America it covers most of inland Canada and Alaska as well as parts of the extreme northern continental United States and is known as the Northwoods...
environments, primarily in Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
from the Ural Mountains
Ural Mountains
The Ural Mountains , or simply the Urals, are a mountain range that runs approximately from north to south through western Russia, from the coast of the Arctic Ocean to the Ural River and northwestern Kazakhstan. Their eastern side is usually considered the natural boundary between Europe and Asia...
throughout Siberia
Siberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
, in northern Mongolia
Mongolia
Mongolia is a landlocked country in East and Central Asia. It is bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south, east and west. Although Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, its western-most point is only from Kazakhstan's eastern tip. Ulan Bator, the capital and largest...
and China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
and on Hokkaidō
Hokkaido
, formerly known as Ezo, Yezo, Yeso, or Yesso, is Japan's second largest island; it is also the largest and northernmost of Japan's 47 prefectural-level subdivisions. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaido from Honshu, although the two islands are connected by the underwater railway Seikan Tunnel...
in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. Its range in the wild originally extended through European Russia
European Russia
European Russia refers to the western areas of Russia that lie within Europe, comprising roughly 3,960,000 square kilometres , larger in area than India, and spanning across 40% of Europe. Its eastern border is defined by the Ural Mountains and in the south it is defined by the border with...
to Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
and Scandinavia
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
. It has historically been harvested for its highly valued fur
Fur
Fur is a synonym for hair, used more in reference to non-human animals, usually mammals; particularly those with extensives body hair coverage. The term is sometimes used to refer to the body hair of an animal as a complete coat, also known as the "pelage". Fur is also used to refer to animal...
, which remains a luxury good
Luxury good
Luxury goods are products and services that are not considered essential and associated with affluence.The concept of luxury has been present in various forms since the beginning of civilization. Its role was just as important in ancient western and eastern empires as it is in modern societies...
to this day. While hunting of wild animals is still common in Russia, most fur in the market is now commercially farmed
Fur farming
Fur farming is the practice of breeding or raising certain types of animals for their fur.Fur used from wild caught animals is not farmed, and is instead known as 'free range fur' because the animals have lived their lives free and natural in the wild....
.
Etymology
The name sable appears to be of SlavicSlavic languages
The Slavic languages , a group of closely related languages of the Slavic peoples and a subgroup of Indo-European languages, have speakers in most of Eastern Europe, in much of the Balkans, in parts of Central Europe, and in the northern part of Asia.-Branches:Scholars traditionally divide Slavic...
origin and to have entered most Western European via the early medieval fur trade. Thus the Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
соболь (sobol) and Polish
Polish language
Polish is a language of the Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages, used throughout Poland and by Polish minorities in other countries...
soból became the German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
Zobel, Dutch
Dutch language
Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
Sabel; the French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
zibelline Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
cibelina, cebellina, Finnish
Finnish language
Finnish is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland Primarily for use by restaurant menus and by ethnic Finns outside Finland. It is one of the two official languages of Finland and an official minority language in Sweden. In Sweden, both standard Finnish and Meänkieli, a...
soopeli and Mediaeval Latin zibellina derive from the Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
form (zibellino). The English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
and Medieval Latin word sabellum comes from the Old French
Old French
Old French was the Romance dialect continuum spoken in territories that span roughly the northern half of modern France and parts of modern Belgium and Switzerland from the 9th century to the 14th century...
sable or saible.
The term has become a generic description for some black-furred animal breeds, such as sable cat
Cat
The cat , also known as the domestic cat or housecat to distinguish it from other felids and felines, is a small, usually furry, domesticated, carnivorous mammal that is valued by humans for its companionship and for its ability to hunt vermin and household pests...
s or rabbit
Rabbit
Rabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae of the order Lagomorpha, found in several parts of the world...
s, and for the colour black
Sable (heraldry)
In heraldry, sable is the tincture black, and belongs to the class of dark tinctures, called "colours". In engravings and line drawings, it is sometimes depicted as a region of crossed horizontal and vertical lines or else marked with sa. as an abbreviation.The name derives from the black fur of...
in heraldry
Heraldry
Heraldry is the profession, study, or art of creating, granting, and blazoning arms and ruling on questions of rank or protocol, as exercised by an officer of arms. Heraldry comes from Anglo-Norman herald, from the Germanic compound harja-waldaz, "army commander"...
.
Description
Sables are sexually dimorphic: males measure 38–56 cm in body length, with a tail measuring 9–12 cm, and weighing 880–1800 grams. Females have a body length of 35–51 cm, with a tail length of 7.2–11.5 cm. The winter pelage is longer and more luxurious than the summer coat. Different subspeciesSubspecies
Subspecies in biological classification, is either a taxonomic rank subordinate to species, ora taxonomic unit in that rank . A subspecies cannot be recognized in isolation: a species will either be recognized as having no subspecies at all or two or more, never just one...
display geographic variation in fur colour: fur color ranges from light to dark brown, with individual fur color being lighter ventrally and darker on the back and legs. Japanese sables (known locally as クロテン or kuroten) in particular are marked with black on their legs and feet. Individuals also display a light patch of fur on their throat which may be gray, white, or a pale yellow. The fur is softer and silkier than that of American marten
American Marten
The American marten is a North American member of the family Mustelidae, sometimes referred to as the pine marten. The name "pine marten" is derived from the common but distinct Eurasian species of Martes...
s. Sables greatly resemble pine marten
Pine Marten
The European Pine Marten , known most commonly as the pine marten in Anglophone Europe, and less commonly also known as Pineten, baum marten, or sweet marten, is an animal native to Northern Europe belonging to the mustelid family, which also includes mink, otter, badger, wolverine and weasel. It...
s in size appearance, but have more elongated heads, longer ears and proportionately shorter tails. Their skulls are similar to those of pine martens, but are larger and more robust with more arched zygomatic arch
Zygomatic arch
The zygomatic arch or cheek bone is formed by the zygomatic process of temporal bone and the temporal process of the zygomatic bone , the two being united by an oblique suture; the tendon of the Temporalis passes medial to the arch to gain insertion into the coronoid process...
es.
Behaviour
Sables inhabit dense forests dominated by spruceSpruce
A spruce is a tree of the genus Picea , a genus of about 35 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the Family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal regions of the earth. Spruces are large trees, from tall when mature, and can be distinguished by their whorled branches and conical...
, pine
Pine
Pines are trees in the genus Pinus ,in the family Pinaceae. They make up the monotypic subfamily Pinoideae. There are about 115 species of pine, although different authorities accept between 105 and 125 species.-Etymology:...
, larch
Larch
Larches are conifers in the genus Larix, in the family Pinaceae. Growing from 15 to 50m tall, they are native to much of the cooler temperate northern hemisphere, on lowlands in the north and high on mountains further south...
, cedar, and birch
Birch
Birch is a tree or shrub of the genus Betula , in the family Betulaceae, closely related to the beech/oak family, Fagaceae. The Betula genus contains 30–60 known taxa...
in both lowland and mountainous terrain. They defend home territories that may be anything from 4 to 30 km² (1.5 to 11.6 ) in size, depending on the local terrain and availability of food. However, when resources are scarce they may move considerable distances in search of food, with travel rates of 6 to 12 km (3.7 to 7.5 ) per day having been recorded.
Sables live in burrows near riverbanks and in the thickest parts of woods. These burrows are commonly made more secure by being dug among tree roots. They are good climbers of cliffs and trees. They are primarily crepuscular
Crepuscular
Crepuscular animals are those that are active primarily during twilight, that is during dawn and dusk. The word is derived from the Latin word crepusculum, meaning "twilight." Crepuscular is, thus, in contrast with diurnal and nocturnal behavior. Crepuscular animals may also be active on a bright...
, hunting during the hours of twilight, but become more active in the day during the mating season. Their dens are well hidden, and lined by grass and shed fur, but may be temporary, especially during the winter, when the animal travels more widely in search of prey.
Sables are omnivore
Omnivore
Omnivores are species that eat both plants and animals as their primary food source...
s, and their diet varies seasonally. In the summer, they eat large numbers of hares and other small mammals. In winter, when they are confined in their retreats by frost and snow, they feed on wild berries, rodent
Rodent
Rodentia is an order of mammals also known as rodents, characterised by two continuously growing incisors in the upper and lower jaws which must be kept short by gnawing....
s, hares, and even small musk deer
Musk deer
Musk deer are artiodactyls of the genus Moschus, the only genus of family Moschidae. They are more primitive than the cervids, or true deer, in not having antlers or facial glands, in having only a single pair of teats, and in possessing a gall bladder, a caudal gland, a pair of tusk-like teeth...
. They also hunt ermine
Ermine
Ermine has several uses:* A common name for the stoat * The white fur and black tail end of this animal, which is historically worn by and associated with royalty and high officials...
, small weasel
Weasel
Weasels are mammals forming the genus Mustela of the Mustelidae family. They are small, active predators, long and slender with short legs....
s and birds. Sometimes, sables follow the tracks of wolves and bear
Bear
Bears are mammals of the family Ursidae. Bears are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans, with the pinnipeds being their closest living relatives. Although there are only eight living species of bear, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the Northern...
s and feed on the remains of their kills. They eat molluscs such as slugs, which they rub on the ground in order to remove the mucus
Mucus
In vertebrates, mucus is a slippery secretion produced by, and covering, mucous membranes. Mucous fluid is typically produced from mucous cells found in mucous glands. Mucous cells secrete products that are rich in glycoproteins and water. Mucous fluid may also originate from mixed glands, which...
. Sables also occasionally eat fish, which they catch with their front paws.
They hunt primarily by sound and scent, and they have an acute sense of hearing
Hearing (sense)
Hearing is the ability to perceive sound by detecting vibrations through an organ such as the ear. It is one of the traditional five senses...
. Sables mark their territory with scent produced in gland
Scent gland
Scent glands are found in the genital area of most mammals and in various other parts of the body, such as the underarms of humans and the preorbital glands of deer and muskox. They produce a semi-viscous fluid which contains pheromones. These odor-messengers indicate information such as status,...
s on the abdomen. Predators on the sable include a number of larger carnivores, such as wolves, foxes, wolverine
Wolverine
The wolverine, pronounced , Gulo gulo , also referred to as glutton, carcajou, skunk bear, or quickhatch, is the largest land-dwelling species of the family Mustelidae . It is a stocky and muscular carnivore, more closely resembling a small bear than other mustelids...
s, tiger
Tiger
The tiger is the largest cat species, reaching a total body length of up to and weighing up to . Their most recognizable feature is a pattern of dark vertical stripes on reddish-orange fur with lighter underparts...
s, lynx
Lynx
A lynx is any of the four Lynx genus species of medium-sized wildcats. The name "lynx" originated in Middle English via Latin from Greek word "λύγξ", derived from the Indo-European root "*leuk-", meaning "light, brightness", in reference to the luminescence of its reflective eyes...
es, eagle
Eagle
Eagles are members of the bird family Accipitridae, and belong to several genera which are not necessarily closely related to each other. Most of the more than 60 species occur in Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just two species can be found in the United States and Canada, nine more in...
s and large owl
Owl
Owls are a group of birds that belong to the order Strigiformes, constituting 200 bird of prey species. Most are solitary and nocturnal, with some exceptions . Owls hunt mostly small mammals, insects, and other birds, although a few species specialize in hunting fish...
s.
Reproduction
Mating generally occurs between June–August 15, though the date varies geographically. When courting, sables run, jump and "rumble" like catCat
The cat , also known as the domestic cat or housecat to distinguish it from other felids and felines, is a small, usually furry, domesticated, carnivorous mammal that is valued by humans for its companionship and for its ability to hunt vermin and household pests...
s. Males dig metre long shallow grooves in the snow, frequently accompanied with urination. Males fight violently with each other for females. Females enter estrus in spring. Mating can last as long as eight hours. After insemination
Insemination
Insemination is the deliberate introduction of sperm into the uterus of a mammal or the oviduct of an oviparous animal for the objective of impregnating a female for reproduction...
, the blastocyst
Blastocyst
The blastocyst is a structure formed in the early embryogenesis of mammals, after the formation of the morula. It is a specifically mammalian example of a blastula. It possesses an inner cell mass , or embryoblast, which subsequently forms the embryo, and an outer layer of cells, or trophoblast,...
does not implant into the uterine wall of the female. Instead, implantation occurs eight months later; although gestation
Gestation
Gestation is the carrying of an embryo or fetus inside a female viviparous animal. Mammals during pregnancy can have one or more gestations at the same time ....
lasts 245 to 298 days, embryonic development requires only 25–30 days. Sables birth in tree hollows, where they build nests composed of moss, leaves, and dried grass. Litters number one to seven young, although litters of two or three are most common. Males assist females by defending their territories and providing food.
Sables are born with eyes closed and skin covered in a very thin layer of hair. Newborn cubs weigh between 25 and 35 g (0.881849052627799 and 1.2 ) and average 10 to 12 cm (3.9 to 4.7 ) in length. They open their eyes after 30 to 36 days, and leave the nest shortly afterwards. At seven weeks old, the young are weaned and given regurgitated food. They reach sexual maturity at the age of two years. They have been reported to live for up to twenty two years on fur farms, and up to eighteen years in the wild.
Sables can interbreed with pine marten
Pine Marten
The European Pine Marten , known most commonly as the pine marten in Anglophone Europe, and less commonly also known as Pineten, baum marten, or sweet marten, is an animal native to Northern Europe belonging to the mustelid family, which also includes mink, otter, badger, wolverine and weasel. It...
s. This has been observed in the wild, where the two species overlap in the Ural Mountains
Ural Mountains
The Ural Mountains , or simply the Urals, are a mountain range that runs approximately from north to south through western Russia, from the coast of the Arctic Ocean to the Ural River and northwestern Kazakhstan. Their eastern side is usually considered the natural boundary between Europe and Asia...
, and is sometimes deliberately encouraged on fur farms. The resulting hybrid, referred to as a kidus, is slightly smaller than a pure sable, with coarser fur, but otherwise similar markings, and a long bushy tail. Kiduses are typically sterile
Sterility (physiology)
Sterility is the physiological inability to effect sexual reproduction in a living thing, members of whose kind have been produced sexually. The term may be used in reference to* types of organism, such as the mule, a sterile hybrid;...
, although there has been one recorded instance of a female kidus successfully breeding with a male pine marten.
Distribution
In Russia, the sable's distribution is largely the result of mass reintroductions involving 19,000 animals from 1940–1965. Their range extends northward to the limit of trees, and extends southward to 55–60° latitude in western Siberia, and 42° in the mountainous areas of eastern Asia. Their western distribution encompasses the Ural mountainsUral Mountains
The Ural Mountains , or simply the Urals, are a mountain range that runs approximately from north to south through western Russia, from the coast of the Arctic Ocean to the Ural River and northwestern Kazakhstan. Their eastern side is usually considered the natural boundary between Europe and Asia...
, where they are sympatric with European pine martens. They are also found on Sakhalin
Sakhalin
Sakhalin or Saghalien, is a large island in the North Pacific, lying between 45°50' and 54°24' N.It is part of Russia, and is Russia's largest island, and is administered as part of Sakhalin Oblast...
.
In Mongolia, sables occur in the Altai Mountains and in the surrounding forests of Lake Hovsgol, the latter being contiguous with the Trans-Baikal boreal forest region from where the most valuable sable pelts come from. In China, sables occur in a limited area of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. In northeastern China, sables are now limited to the Daxinganling Mountains. In eastern Heilongjiang, the persistence of sables is suspected in the Xiaoxinganling Mountains. Sables also occur in Hokkaido and on the Korean peninsula.
Because of the variable appearance of the sable in different geographic localities, there has been some debate over the exact number of subspecies that can be clearly identified. Mammal Species of the World
Mammal Species of the World
Mammal Species of the World, now in its 3rd edition, is a standard reference work in zoology giving descriptions and bibliographic data for the known species of mammals.An updated Third Edition of Mammal Species of the World was published late in 2005:...
recognises seventeen different subspecies, but other recent scholarly sources have identified anything from seven to thirty.
History of fur use and status
Fur trade
The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of world market for in the early modern period furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the most valued...
since the early Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
, and is generally considered to have the most beautiful and richly tinted pelt among martens. Sable fur is unique because it retains its smoothness in every direction it is stroked. The fur of other animals feels rough stroked opposite the grain. A wealthy 17th century Russian diplomat once described the sable as "A beast full marvelous and prolific ... a beast that the Ancient Greeks and Romans called the Golden Fleece
Golden Fleece
In Greek mythology, the Golden Fleece is the fleece of the gold-haired winged ram, which can be procured in Colchis. It figures in the tale of Jason and his band of Argonauts, who set out on a quest by order of King Pelias for the fleece in order to place Jason rightfully on the throne of Iolcus...
." Russian sables would typically be skinned over the mouth with no incision being made on the body. The feet would be retained, so as to keep as much fur as possible. Byzantine
Byzantium
Byzantium was an ancient Greek city, founded by Greek colonists from Megara in 667 BC and named after their king Byzas . The name Byzantium is a Latinization of the original name Byzantion...
priests would wear sable for their rituals.
In England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, sable fur was held with great estimation. Henry I
Henry I of England
Henry I was the fourth son of William I of England. He succeeded his elder brother William II as King of England in 1100 and defeated his eldest brother, Robert Curthose, to become Duke of Normandy in 1106...
was presented with a wreath of black sable by the Bishop of Lincoln, for no less than £100, a considerable sum at the time. Sable fur was a favourite of Henry VIII
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
, who once received five sets of sable fur worth £400 from Emperor Charles V. Henry later decreed that sable fur was to be worn only by nobles exceeding the rank of viscount
Viscount
A viscount or viscountess is a member of the European nobility whose comital title ranks usually, as in the British peerage, above a baron, below an earl or a count .-Etymology:...
. The Russian conquest of Siberia
Russian conquest of Siberia
The Russian conquest of Siberia took place in the 16th and 17th centuries, when the Siberian Khanate had become a loose political structure of vassalages which were becoming undermined by the activities of Russian explorers who, though numerically outnumbered, pressured the various family-based...
was largely spurred by the availability of sables there. Ivan Grozny once demanded an annual tribute of 30,000 sable pelts from the newly conquered Kazan Tatars, though they never sent more than a thousand, as Russia at the time was unable to enforce the tribute due to wars with Sweden and Poland. The best skins were obtained in Irkutsk
Irkutsk
Irkutsk is a city and the administrative center of Irkutsk Oblast, Russia, one of the largest cities in Siberia. Population: .-History:In 1652, Ivan Pokhabov built a zimovye near the site of Irkutsk for gold trading and for the collection of fur taxes from the Buryats. In 1661, Yakov Pokhabov...
, Kamchatka, and Lapland
Lapland (region)
Lapland is a region in northern Fennoscandia, largely within the Arctic Circle. It streches across Norway, Sweden, Finland and the Kola Peninsula . On the North it is bounded by the Barents Sea, on the West by the Norwegian Sea and on the East by the White Sea...
.
According to Atkinson's Travels in Asiatic Russia, Barguzin, on Lake Baikal
Lake Baikal
Lake Baikal is the world's oldest at 30 million years old and deepest lake with an average depth of 744.4 metres.Located in the south of the Russian region of Siberia, between Irkutsk Oblast to the northwest and the Buryat Republic to the southeast, it is the most voluminous freshwater lake in the...
, was famed for its sables. The fur of this population is a deep jet black with white tipped hair. $80–90 were sometimes demanded by hunters for a single skin. Sable fur would continue to be the most favoured fur in Russia, until the discovery of sea otter
Sea Otter
The sea otter is a marine mammal native to the coasts of the northern and eastern North Pacific Ocean. Adult sea otters typically weigh between 14 and 45 kg , making them the heaviest members of the weasel family, but among the smallest marine mammals...
s in the Kamchatka peninsula, whose fur was considered even more valuable. Sable furs were coveted by the nobility of the Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
, with very few skins ever being found outside the country during that period. Some however would be privately obtained by Jewish traders and brought annually to the Leipzig
Leipzig
Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...
fair. Sometimes, sable hunting was a job given to convicts exiled to Siberia.
Imperial Russian fur companies produced 25,000 skins annually, while the Hudson's Bay Company
Hudson's Bay Company
The Hudson's Bay Company , abbreviated HBC, or "The Bay" is the oldest commercial corporation in North America and one of the oldest in the world. A fur trading business for much of its existence, today Hudson's Bay Company owns and operates retail stores throughout Canada...
produced 125,000 sable pelts annually, with nearly nine tenths of the produce being exported to France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. The civic robes of the Lord Mayor and Corporation of London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, which were worn on State occasions, were trimmed with sable. As with minks and martens, sables were commonly caught in steel traps. Intensified hunting in Russia in the 19th and early 20th century caused a severe enough decline in numbers that a five year ban on hunting was instituted in 1935, followed by a winter-limited licensed hunt. These restrictions together with the development of sable farms have allowed the species to recolonize much of its former range and attain healthy numbers.
The Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
allowed Old Believer communities to continue their traditional way of life on the condition that they hand over all sable skins they produced. The dissolution of the Soviet Union
Dissolution of the Soviet Union
The dissolution of the Soviet Union was the disintegration of the federal political structures and central government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , resulting in the independence of all fifteen republics of the Soviet Union between March 11, 1990 and December 25, 1991...
led to an increase of hunting and poaching in the 1990s, in part because wild caught Russian furs are considered the most luxurious and demand the highest prices on the international market. Currently, the species has no special conservation status according to the IUCN, though the isolated Japanese subspecies M. zibellina brachyurus is listed as "data-deficient".
Because of its great expense, sable fur is typically integrated into various clothes fashions: to decorate collars, sleeves, hems and hats (see, for example the shtreimel
Shtreimel
A shtreimel is a fur hat worn by many married haredi Jewish men, particularly members of Hasidic groups, on Shabbat and Jewish holidays and other festive occasions. In Jerusalem, the shtreimel is also worn by 'Yerushalmi' Jews...
). The so-called Kolinsky sable-hair brushes used for watercolor or oil painting are not manufactured from sable hair, but from that of the siberian weasel
Siberian Weasel
The Siberian weasel , also known as the Kolonok, is a medium-sized species of weasel native to Asia. It is classed as Least Concern for extinction by the IUCN, due to its wide distribution and presumably large numbers....
.