Reserve administration sources said that by March 13, more than 3,500 applicants had registered to be Hol Xil National Nature Reserve guards. They came from every corner of the country and all walks of life, including workers, farmers, teachers, students and journalists.

The Hoh Xil Nature Reserve, located at the juncture of Qinghai Province and the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in northwest China and the Tibet Autonomous Region in southwest China, has the greatest number of wild animals in the country.

Covering an area of 45,000 sq km, it is also the largest uninhabited area with the most unspoilt natural conditions in China.

However, in recent years, poachers hunting the Tibetan antelope have seriously damaged the ecological environment and triggered concern from home and abroad.

Many environmentalists have expressed their willingness via different channels to directly join environmental protection campaigns against poaching in Hoh Xil.

The administration of the Hoh Xil Nature Reserve has worked out a plan to select five volunteers every month to patrol the reserve with the administration staff.

The registration deadline for the first group of volunteers is on March 20.

(Xinhua News Agency March 18, 2002)