Chinese scientists have found three new groups of an extremely
endangered Chinese gazelle species, the Przewalski's gazelle, in
places adjacent to the Qinghai Lake Basin, a traditional habitat
for the animal in northwest China's Qinghai Province.
The Przewalski's gazelle (Procapra Przewalskii), endemic to
China like the famous Tibetan antelope, is the most endangered
hoofed mammal species in the world.
The new findings could mean the gazelle is less endangered than
previously believed, according to Jiang Zhigang, head of the
experts team that made the findings.
According to Jiang, chief researcher and the gazelle program
manager of the Institute of
Zoology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, there are only
about 1,000 giant pandas left in the wild, mainly in the hilly
areas in China's Sichuan, Gansu and Shaanxi provinces, while it was
reported that there were only some 350 Przewalski's gazelles living
around Qinghai Lake in the mid-1980s. And the whole population
further dropped to less than 300 now, according to previous field
surveys.
Experts used to think the animal lived solely in the areas
around Qinghai Lake, China's largest salty lake. Starting in autumn
and winter in 2003, acting on the tips of local people, the team
led by Jiang, along with experts from the Qinghai provincial
forestry department, expanded the search scope and finally found
the three new herds in separate regions.
They announced their findings recently.
One gazelle group is in the Gonghe Basin, south of the Qinghai
Lake basin but isolated from it by mountains. Another two groups
were found in Tianjun County in the Qaidam Basin, west of the lake
basin. One of the two lives in a mountainous valley in the
southwest of the county, and the other in Kuaierma Town near the
county seat.
According to experts, both gazelle communities in the county are
relatively in good conservation with a larger number of members.
Jiang said they were closely watching the groups and the specific
number of gazelles would be revealed following further observation
and calculation.
Before this exciting new discovery, Jiang and his colleagues
found only about 300 gazelles that were divided into three groups
and isolated from each other by human activity areas, making
natural exchange of animals, and consequently the gene exchanges,
between the populations almost impossible.
Dong Jiansheng, deputy director of the provincial wildlife
reserve, said the finding of new gazelle groups will be significant
to the protective efforts of the animal for fresh supply of genetic
biodiversity.
The Przewalski's gazelle was named after a Russian adventurer
who collected a specimen and brought it back to St. Petersburg in
1875.
The historical distribution of the Przewalski's gazelle covered
an area in central and northwest China, including the Inner
Mongolia Autonomous Region, the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region,
Gansu and Qinghai provinces.
Its population has been affected by several decades of habitat
destruction and reduction of its range. The increase of human and
cattle populations and the development of cultivated land areas
have reduced the availability of food for the gazelles.
To deal with the critical situation, Jiang Zhigang initiated a
field project including research of the remaining populations
living in other areas, creation of a nature reserve around Qinghai
Lake, including some corridors between the three populations,
identification of lands available for possible translocation and
establishment of new populations.
The critical status of the gazelle also aroused attention
worldwide. The Species Surviving Commission of World Conservation
Union ranked the status of the species as CR (critically
endangered) in the IUCN 1996 Red List of Endangered Species.
The ecology and status of the gazelle have never been documented
thoroughly, according to Jiang who has led a team for years to
probe its population ecology and to find out the proximate causes
accounting for the population declines in the species.
Since 1994 Jiang and his colleagues formed a research team to
monitor the behavior and population dynamics of the Przewalski's
gazelle around Qinghai Lake. New evidence indicated that human
activity and high juvenile mortality are major threats to survival
of the Przewalski's gazelle.
Their research also revealed an inversely proportional link
between wolves and the gazelle populations, and the proposal was
made consequently to control the density of wolves in the area.
According to Jiang, the Przewalski's gazelle is a flagship
species in the eastern part of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, and
also an indicating species of the ecotone between typical steppe
and desert.
(Xinhua News Agency January 11, 2004)