A Chinese zoologist has called for greater efforts to save the
Procapra Przewalskii, a rare antelope species unique to China, from
extinction.
Jiang Zhigang, chief research fellow with the zoology institute
under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said that the most effective
method to save the rare animal is to build a protection zone for
them.
Jiang pointed out that the less than 150 remaining of the species
are quickly depopulating due to increasing human activities,
including the construction of highways, the increasing presence of
tourists and the fact that grassland is fenced in for grazing
domestic animals.
China has six antelope species, the other five of which are
Procapra gutturosa, Procapra picticaudata, Gazella subgutturosa,
Saiga tatarica and Pantholps hodgnosi.
A
typical Procapra Przewalskii is 110 to 120 centimeters long and
weighing about 15 kilograms. The animal used to live in the pasture
areas of the Inner
Mongolia and Ningxia Hui
Autonomous Regions, and in Gansu
and Qinghai
provinces in the past. But now, the animal lives only in areas
around Qinghai Lake, the largest saltwater lake in China.
Attacks by wolves is another major threat to the rare antelopes,
according to Jiang, who said during his recent month-long on-the-
spot investigation he found eight such antelopes became the prey of
wolves.
Jiang said inbreeding among such antelopes has also led to their
decrease in number.
Researchers at the forestry departments of Qinghai Province have
tried artificial breeding to increase the number of such rare
antelopes and their efforts are still continuing.
(China Daily March 15, 2003)