The Three Decades of Protection for the Tibetan Antelopes

The Tibetan antelope， spirit of the highland， not only witnesses the ecological environmental changes on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau， but it also tests the Chinese highland’s ecological progress and ability for environmental protection with its population. There were as many as a million Tibetan antelopes a hundred years ago， but they became endangered in the 1980s. Now， the animal has taken off the hat of being a threatened species. In the thirty years， China has successfully explored a way to protect it eff ectively.

The Crazy Hunts Have Decreased the Tibetan Antelopes to between 60 and 70 Thousand

The Tibetan antelope， a national protected animal within China， is mainly distributed throughout the alpine desert of Tibet， Qinghai， and western Xinjiang， which is as large as 800 thousand square kilometers， with 80 percent of the area lying in Changtang. As the movie Hoh Xil was released and the image of the Tibetan antelope was included as one of the mascots of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games， the Tibetan antelope became one of the most famous species on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

The Tibetan antelope is worthy of the title of being a“Representative Species of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau”. From the west to east， traces of the species can be found from the Ladakh region on the west side of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau spanning 1，600 kilometers eastwards through Tibet and the southern fringe of Xinjiang to western Erlim Tso， Qinghai Province. From the north to the south， the Tibetan antelope can be seen from the backlands of the Kunlun Mountains to the east side of Lake Manasarovar in southern Tibet. According to the notes and analyses put down by western explorers a hundred years ago， the number of Tibetan antelopes on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau can be accounted for more than one million then.

Every June， flocks of Tibetan antelopes make their way migrating along the horizon with the snow having just melted. They run fast， strong and vigorous， like lightning shooting over the beautiful grassland.

Later， the fascinating scene was broken up by the bloody hunt！ In the 1980s， a number of Tibetan antelopes were killed due to the fat profi t of “soft gold”， the cashmere of the Tibetan antelope. The tippet made from this cashmere is called Shatoosh， the world’s softest and most delicate tippet. One Shatoosh is offered at 15 to 40 thousand US dollars in Paris and London， at the cost of three Tibetan antelopes. The fat profi t led to a crazy hunt. It is estimated that nearly 20 thousand Tibetan antelopes were killed each year due to the Shatoosh.

The smuggling of Tibetan antelope cashmere reached its climax in the 1990s. From 1996 to 1997， 843.85 kilograms of the smuggled material were seized by Lhasa Customs at checkpoints located near the Nyalam and Shiquan River. According to experts， anTibetan antelope produces 100 grams of cashmere at the most. To reach the amount seized at customs is almost unimaginable！ Calculating the pieces of Tibetan antelope leather， the weight of cashmere ferreted out these years by related Chinese departments， and the debris found in the area inhabited by the Tibetan antelope， about 20 thousand Tibetan antelopes were hunted every year. Besides all this， after being aff ected by the serious poaching， the former habits and living patterns of the Tibetan antelope have been disrupted， and the multiplication of the species has been severely infl uenced. In The Living Creatures on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau， a book published by Dr. George Schaller from the U.S.A. in 1998， the number of Tibetan antelopes in China is estimated to be around 75 to 80 thousand， no more than 10 percent of its estimated population one hundred years ago. These years， only a few lonely fi gures can be found in the place once inhabited by Tibetan antelopes， and the ancient species is on the brink of extinction.

Trying the Best to Fire No Further Gunshots

To protect Tibetan antelopes， the state has strictly prohibited all trading activities concerning Tibetan antelope export as well as related products since 1981. After the Protection Law of Wild Animals of the People’s Republic of China was promulgated in 1988， the Tibetan antelope was enrolled onto the List of the Endangered and Protected Species of China issued by the State Council and was forbidden to be hunted. Then， the Chinese government set up the Qinghai Hoh Xil National Nature Reserve， Xinjiang Altun Mountains National Nature Reserve， Tibet Changtang Nature Reserve， and some others around the area inhabited by the species. Special protection management organizations and law enforcement ranks were also established to make regular patrols around the reserves and provide realtime monitoring toward the activities of Tibetan antelope fl ocks.

These years， as the main region inhabited by the Tibetan antelopes， Tibet has enhanced the cooperation with neighboring provinces in protecting the animal and in fi ghting against related crimes and strongly developed its research and monitoring. Till now， there has been pleasant improvement made on the work.

Drolma Yangzong， Director of the Offi ce of Wildlife Protection of the Forestry Department of Tibet Autonomous Region， said that to protect the Tibetan antelope in Tibet， Tibet had readjusted most of the Changtang area in northern Tibet， a major habitat for the animal， into a nature reserve， and it established the world’s largest protection zone of terrestrial animals. In 2000， the Changtang Nature Reserve was upgraded to a national level， acting as a protective umbrella over the restoration of the Tibetan antelope population.

In addition， to severely fi ght against the crimes of illegal hunting and better protect the Tibetan antelope in Tibet， stations and branches of the reserve management bureau were respectively set up in the areas inhabited by Tibetan antelopes like Changtang and other prefectures， counties， and township villages in Tibet， and forestry structures and staff ， together with seven management stations were either newly founded or enhanced in the 25 township villages， seventeen counties， and the three cities or prefectures of Ngari， Nagqu， and Shigatse. Special vehicles and advanced telecommunication equipment have also been employed since the late 1990s. From 1999 to 2003， Tibet has invested more than 60 million Yuan in Tibetan antelope protection programs such as infrastructure construction， equipment， patrol， and staff . Today， the protective staff has numbers between 300 and 400. The management structures of Tibetan antelope protection in nature reserves have actively strengthened the cooperation with law enforcement departments. In the past fi ve years， there was a crackdown on 346 cases of illegal hunting， with eighteen people sentenced and the seized cleats， leathers， and cashmere confi scated.

In the meantime， the protection departments of the Tibetan antelope in Tibet is promoting active cooperation with those of Xinjiang and Qinghai by sharing intelligence， and this develops special joint operations so as to concentrate the power on fi ghting against crimes towards the Tibetan antelope， which eff ectively suppresses the momentum of wild poaching. At the end of May 2014， of f icers from the Tibet Forestry Armed Police Corps allying with policemen from Tibet Nagqu Forestry Public Security Bureau set out into Changtang’s no man’s land to develop a joint patrol around the mountains to convoy the migrant Tibetan antelope on the way. The reporter made interviews during the whole process. In the Changtang Nature Reserve and the surrounding area once haunted by wildlife hunters， no gunfi re was heard， but some skins and skulls of naturally dead Tibetan antelopes concealed by a few herdsmen were detected and taken by the patrolmen. Then， in accordance with legal procedures， the patrolmen transferred the suspects and illegal wildlife products to local police.

The Mailly Protection Station of the Changtang Nature Reserve is about 40 kilometers away from the snowy mountain of Seru， with the only connecting road occupied by many Tibetan antelopes. The migration distance of female Tibetan antelopes in Changtang is about 200 to 400 kilometers， along which the wildlife protection team members make patrols 24 hours a day to guarantee the Tibetan antelopes move safe and sound.

More than fi ghting against illegal hunters， China also attaches importance to the preservation of Tibetan antelope habitats. Not to aff ect the Tibetan antelope’s migration， the Qinghai-Tibet Railway fi rst fi lls up the blanks in the environmentalprotection-based construction of Chinese large engineering programs by building a migration passageway for wild animals.

Siger， Chief of the Nagqu Forestry Public Security Bureau， says that benefi ting from a series of eff ective protection measures， the large scale illegal hunting of the Tibetan antelope has been dying out on the QinghaiTibet Plateau. Every year since 2006， no case of poaching has been detected in the Hoh Xil National Nature Reserve， and the population of the Tibetan antelope has been restored to 60 thousand. The number of the Tibetan antelopes on the whole Qinghai-Tibet Plateau has shown a rising trend and has currently reached somewhere around 200 thousand.

In consideration of the restoration of the population of the Tibetan antelopes， the Ministry of Environmental Protection and the Chinese Academy of Sciences jointly delivered an evaluation report known as “The Red List of Chinese Biodiversity： The Volume of Vertebrates”， which ranks the Tibetan antelope as a nearthreatened species， offi cially removing it from the list of endangered animals.

Now， the grass in the Changtang Prairie turns green again， and a large number of Tibetan antelopes are migrating the long way to breed in the north. During the interview in the County of Tsonyi， Nagqu， and the back-land of the Changtang reserve in Tibet， the reporter found the Tibetan antelopes orderly gathering and moving along the col， where there is plenty of water and grass. Sometimes， they run fast， and other times， they graze easily， not aff ected by the vehicles roaring past on the highway. A few miles away， the wildlife protection team members carry their telescopes， watching for signs of disturbance around the fl ocks.

The Measures Taken to Have Tibetan Antelope Run Freely

In recent years， to protect the Tibetan antelope， the National Bureau of Forestry and the governments of Tibet， Qinghai， and Xinjiang have put a lot of eff orts on the training of staff and the construction of reserves， and remarkable fruit has been harvested. According to the experts， the protection of the Tibetan antelopes is a long-term task， although we have entered post-endangered times.

Kang Aili， member of the International Wildlife Conservation Society， says that as modern animal husbandry develops， the grasslands become wider and wider and extend into no man’s land in the north. The situation of the excellent habitats for the Tibetan antelope seems more complicated than before with domestic animals competing with the Tibetan antelopes for pasture. On top of this， since people do not take the need of wild animals into account when designing fences， pasture fences， to a certain extent， hinder the migration of the Tibetan antelopes， keep them from grazing and drinking， and sometimes cause a few to be wounded and die as they jump over them.

The Changtang Nature Reserve is China’s biggest land natural reserve and also the world’s highest with the most Tibetan antelopes which come to live and multiply through the winter. Since the reserve is too big to monitor， the crimes of illegal hunting have never fully come to a halt.

According to Karma Tsedrup， Deputy Director of Ngari Bureau of Forestry in Tibet， the area of the Changtang Nature Reserve within the range of Ngari Prefecture is as large as 164 thousand square kilometers. However， the total monitoring staff in Ngari and related counties is no more than 40， with 300 members in total including 267 wildlife protectors. On average， one man is responsible for 500 square kilometers（193 square miles）. “Every winter， the patrol team members have to work and live outside in severe conditions for a month once they set out by truck.”

Every year， the hunting activities intensify in the season when the Tibetan antelopes mate. The forestry policemen who patrol into the deep reserve face harsh challenges from poachers， heavy storms in winter， and mud from rain and snow in the summer. In the winter of 1999， Tenda， Chief of the Ngari Forestry Public Security Bureau， took a patrol with a few colleagues into no-man’s land in the north to fi nd out the situation of the wild animals. Unfortunately， there was some bad weather， and they were trapped by a few days of heavy snow and were unable to move a single step. They could not move forward or retreat. The most severe problem was that they were running out of food and gasoline. The cold wind rolled up the snowfl akes all over them， and the whole sky looked pale and gloomy. Tenda wrote a letter of farewell， left the remaining food and gasoline to his students， and set out into the storm， trying to fi nd a residential area for help using only his experience as a guide. He walked thirteen days and nights on the snowy land before he fi nally found a rescue team to get the trapped persons out. It is common for the people working in the protective zone to get through such hardship. Usually， patrolling around the protective zone， they eat Tsampa and raw meat as they get hungry and have snow for water as they get thirsty. If it happens to get bad， it is natural for them to sleep overnight on the snow-covered earth.

These years， tourism in Tibet has been getting all the more popular. More and more tourists travel to Tibet with their own cars， and now， the wild animal risk poses more danger on the roads. Moreover， Tibetan natural reserves lack powerful management strength， complete equipment， and suffi cient funding to implement an overall eff ective and constant patrol and protection in the reserves.

Some experts and professionals like Tsongga， Deputy Director-General of the Forestry Department of Tibet Autonomous Region， Yang Zhaoxia， Deputy Director of the Institute of Ecological Law in Beijing Forestry University， and Zheng Du， President of the China’s Society on Tibet Plateau， suggest that many measures should be taken up to make sure the Tibetan antelope， “the Spirit of the Highland”can run freely forever.

First， more policemen should be added， and more funds should be collected by various means to enhance infrastructural construction in the reserves， with necessary protective equipment off ered to improve the management and mobility strength in the protective areas.

Second， the forms of ecological protection upon the grassland inhabited by Tibetan antelopes should be further innovated. Realtime monitoring should be paid to the habitats of the Tibetan antelope and the changes in their migration routes. The contradiction of livestock intermixing with wild animals in pastures should be resolved where wild animals happen to go astray into livestock reduction zones and grazing-prohibited areas where they destroy pasture and the motivation of the common herdsmen to protect Tibetan antelopes should be raised.

Third， the application of the Hoh Xil Tibetan antelope habitat as a World Natural Heritage should be accelerated. Once Hoh Xil becomes a natural heritage， the protection of the Tibetan antelope could extend to more departments and channels and attain common protection and support from other UNESCO member states.

Fourth， the public sense to protect wild animals through eff ective publicity means should be improved. Animal-related topics of conversation should be encouraged among the common people by text message， MicroBlog， and WeChat. In the meantime， importance should be attached to the role played by nongovernmental organizations， and the combined action of offi cials and civilians on the protection of the Tibetan antelope should be realized.