tibetan

60CHINATODAY

THETibetanantelopeinhabitsthe

harshsteppeareasataneleva-

tionof4,000to6,000km,and

isunderChina’shighestlevelof

ernmenthastab-

lishedthreenationalnaturerervesin

Tibet,Qinghai,a-

tionsarearoundtheKunlunMountains

andAltunMountaininWesternChina,

amongwhichHohXilinQinghaiProv-

inceisthebestknown.

ByJANELU

TheTibetan

Antelope

Editor’snote:Duetoitsbroadterritoryanddivernaturalenvironment,Chinaishome

tothewidestrangeofwildlifespecieswith6,266kindsofvertebrates,including2,404

kindsofterrestrialanimalsand3,862kindsoffish,whichmakeupnearly10percent

oftheworld’ntpanda,thesnub-nodmonkey,theSouthChina

tiger,thebrown-earedpheasant,thered-crownedcrane,thecrestedibis,thewhite-flag

dolphin,andtheChinealligatoraresomeofChina’

year,wehavecreatedacolumntointroducesomeoftheanimals.

ThelifespanofaTibetanantelopeis

r

antelope,aroundtwoyearsofage,usu-

allybreedsforthefirsttimeandasingle

occursinNovember

tationlastsfor

ummer

pregnantfemalestravelalongfixed

routestoHohXiltogivebirth,where

grassandwaterareplentywhilenatural

enemiesarefew,especiallyaroundthe

h

varietyoffoodandrelativelysafeenvi-

ronmentarefavorableforbreedingand

terwards,

thefemalesmakethereturnjourney

ota

fewyearsagothatgrandscenesofmass

migrationofabout2,000Tibetanante-

lopescouldbeen.

TheTibetanantelopeistimidby

nature,andcanrunataspeedof80km

telopesarealsocalled

unicornsinChina,astheirsymmetrical

angleslooklikeasinglehornfromafar.

Theyhavedevelopedthickunderfurfor

soCieTy/liFe/inToThewilderness

61January2018

theharshclimate.

ThereudtobemillionsofTibetan

antelopesaccordingtohistoricalre-

cords,butthepopulationhadplummet-

edsincethe1990sanddroppedtoabout

50,000to75,-

plecouldonlyescatteredantelopesin

thepreviouslydenlypopulatedareas.

Therefore,itwaslistedamongthefirst-

classprotectedspeciesundertheNa-

g

2008,

itwaslistedasanendangeredspecies

ontheRedListofThreatenedSpeciesby

theInternationalUnionfortheConr-

vationofNatureandNaturalResources

(IUCN).

Onereasontoaccountforthisisthe

moreoccurrencesofextremeweather.

Theantelopes,especiallyfemalesand

theyoung,aresusceptibletodeathin

thefreezingcoldweather.

Anothercauishumanencroach-

lamation

ofuninhabitedareasledtoareduced

areaforantelopes’-

stance,rareanimalssuchaskiangsand

Tibetanantelopesudtoliveintheun-

inhabitedarea–ShuanghuCountyon

themid-1970s,however,peoplecame

andturneditintopastures,disrupting

hundredsofsquarekilometersofthe

rex-

ampleistheUlanUlaLakeandTaiyang

thediscoveryofgoldmines,people

flockedinanddestroyedtheprimeval

vegetation,makingitincreasinglydif-

ficultforTibetanantelopestosurvive.

However,theultimatereasonforthe

drasticdeclineofantelopepopulationis

rsrampantlykill

theanimalsforhides,astheexception-

allyfineandsoftunderfurcanbewoven

intoaluxuryshawl–l

poachersusuallysmugglethefur,called

“softgold,”toNepalandIndiaandfinally

addition,thepitch-blackantlersofmale

antelopesareregardedararemedical

material,andtheheadsudtobea

kindoffancydecorations,thusmaking

antelopesatargetforillegalhunters

2003,thepolice

crackedabigcaofarmedpoachers

whokilledmorethan1,000antelopes.

Accordingtoincompletestatistics,

about20,000antelopeswerepoached

eofantelopes

wasdisturbedandbreedingaffectedbe-

cauofpoaching.

Inthisconnection,theChine

governmenttupnaturererves,

crackeddownonpoaching,and

soughtinternationalcooperationin

banningillegaltradeofantelopefur

1999,aninternational

symposiumonantelopeprotection

andtradecontrolswasheldinXining,

en-

tativesfromvencountriesincluding

China,France,India,Italy,Nepal,and

dconnsusandissued

TheXiningDeclaration.

Inaddition,numerousvolunteers

haveparticipatedinprotectionefforts

bysavinginjuredyoungantelopes,pro-

hibitingillegalearthandsanddigging,

andraisingpeople’sawarenessofenvi-

migra-

tionason,staffandvolunteerscould

beenregularlyneartheQinghai-Tibet

Highway,stoppingvehiclestoallowthe

eQinghai-

TibetRailwaywasunderconstruction,

antelopes’migrationwasgivenspecial

-threespecialpassage-

ways–withawidthofonetotwokm–

werebuiltalongthemigrationroutesin

toyearsofanti-poachingefforts,the

antelopepopulationinTibethasgrown

to170,000attheendof2012.C

JANELUisafreelancewriterinBeijing.

TheChinegovernment

tupnaturererves,

crackeddownonpoach-

ing,andsoughtinter-

nationalcooperationin

banningillegaltradeof

antelopefurproducts.

AstaffmemberatSanandajNaturalProtectionStationinHohXilstrivestoprotectTibetanantelopes.