Tibetan antelope on rise

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 ◆ Tibetan antelope on rise

The survival rate of newborn Tibetan antelopes in the Hoh Xil Nature Reserve, northwest China's Qinghai province, has reached an all-time high of 87 percent thanks to efforts to protect the endangered animal.

Not a single case of poaching has been recorded at the reserve this year and numbers of Tibetan antelope, which tops the government protection list, surpassed 70,000.

By June this year, more than 30,000 female antelopes had migrated to Zhuonai and Taiyang Lakes in Qinghai Province to give birth.

Work on the Qinghai-Tibet Railway was suspended for several consecutive nights when female antelopes crossed the site while migrating to and from their breeding site in June and August this year.

In addition, the railway department is considering building an animal tunnel to ensure antelope and other species can pass under the railway safely after the line opens.

Hoh Xil Nature Reserve, a 45,000-sq-km area with an elevation of 4,600 meters, is the major habitat and breeding ground of Tibetan antelope. It was set up in 1995 and upgraded to a state-listed reserve in 1997.

The poaching of rare wild animals such as Tibetan antelope was once rampant in the Hoh Xil area, where more than 20 endangered species live.

An estimated 20,000 Tibetan antelopes were killed each year in the 1990-98 period, reducing the number to 50,000.

To protect wildlife, Qinghai banned mining, tree felling and hunting at Hoh Xil in October 2000. More than 100 people are patrolling the reserve this year to crack down on poaching.