"The number of wild animals is increasing and each day I now see
more animals than people," said Danbaciren, a herdsman in Ker
County, part of the Ali area of the
Tibet
Autonomous Region. Currently the endangered animals under state
first level protection number more than 150,000, twice as many as
the area's human population.
Ali is the most remote area dominated by animal husbandry in
Tibet. The 340,000 square km area has seven counties under its
jurisdiction, with a population of more than 70,000. It is located
in the frigid zone at an average elevation of 4,500 meters. Here,
there are more than 40 kinds of wild animals under state first and
second level protection thanks to its vast grasslands and rich
water resources.
Hunting has been part of the nomadic life of local herders since
ancient times. But the number of wild animal species began to drop
from the early 1980s, with Tibetan antelopes and wild kiangs in
danger of extinction.
To protect the endangered plateau animals, China established the
state-level Qiangtang Nature Reserve covering almost all the Ali
area. Relevant departments help herders to solve difficulties in
their daily lives while taking away their shotguns. Workers from
the nature reserve propagate the rules and regulations on wildlife
protection among local people and have won popular support.
"In about five years, the number of Tibetan antelopes, wild
kiangs, wild yaks and bar-headed geese under state first level
protection has exceeded the human population of the Ali Area," said
Danda, an official in charge of wildlife protection of the Ali
Forestry Bureau. "Actually, the period also witnessed the fastest
population growth ever," he added.
The number of Tibetan antelopes in Ali has returned to a level
of more than 30,000 from less than 10,000. To protect Tibetan
antelopes, herders in Gaize and Xianqian counties have given up
large areas of pasture to make room for wild animals since 2002.
During the five-month mating and lambing period each year, police
conduct all-weather patrols in the nature reserve.
Forty-five-year-old Danda remembered that, when he was young, he
saw little Tibetan wild kiangs in the grassland near his hometown.
Nowadays, there are more than 10,000 such animals in Gaize. The
number of Tibetan wild kiangs in Ali has exceeded 60,000, the
number of wild yaks reached nearly 30,000 and the number of
extremely rare golden yaks stands at nearly 100.
"Hunting and killing still happen, but they are done by wolves
and bears," said Danda. Now, the number of brown bears in Ali
exceeds 700 and that of wolves 3,000. "The food chain of the whole
grassland has been improved," said Danda.
(China.org.cn translated by Li Jingrong November 14, 2003)
