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Xinhua Headlines: How UNESCO-listed Hoh Xil transforms from poaching hotspot to model for wildlife protection

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E-mail Xinhua, February 13, 2025

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XINING, Feb. 13 (Xinhua) -- Phutso Tsering, a forest police officer in Hoh Xil, a UNESCO natural heritage site in northwest China's Qinghai Province, led a patrol team into the vast territory earlier this year.

The patrol was set to take place around Taiyang Lake, where Phutso Tsering's uncle, Sonam Dargye, lost his life in 1994. In his quest to protect once-endangered Tibetan antelopes from harm, Sonam Dargye stood his ground against poachers to his last breath.

Over the past 30 years, more than 100 patrollers have continued to honor his legacy, dedicating themselves to safeguarding the nature of the Hoh Xil National Nature Reserve on the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau, which is known as the "roof of the world."

Thanks to their joint protection efforts, no poaching gunfire has been heard in Hoh Xil since 2009, and the population of Tibetan antelopes, a species under first-class state protection in China, has increased from below 20,000 in the late 1980s to more than 70,000.

"The return to tranquility in the pristine land and the sight of Tibetan antelopes roaming freely in the wilderness are the greatest comforts for me, my family and teammates. No matter how hard or tiring it may be, it is all worth it," said Phutso Tsering, 46, who has been working in Hoh Xil for 26 years.

ARDUOUS BATTLE

Situated at an average altitude of nearly 4,900 meters and covering an area of 45,000 square kilometers, Hoh Xil was included on the UNESCO world heritage list in 2017.

According to the UNESCO website, "Hoh Xil's geographical and climatic conditions have nurtured a unique biodiversity." Beyond Tibetan antelope, the reserve is home to various other animal species under first-class national protection, such as the snow leopard and the black-necked crane. It is also known as a gene bank of rare wild animals and plants on the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau.

However, these abundant natural resources once brought violence to Hoh Xil. In the 1980s, an influx of miners entered the area to extract gold from the earth, only to discover something more valuable -- Tibetan antelope hides.

The poachers hunted the antelopes for their hides, which were later made into shahtoosh shawls. Just one shawl required three to five antelope hides and could sell for up to 50,000 U.S. dollars, according to media reports at the time.

"I visited Hoh Xil in 1991, 1993 and 1994 to take photos, and the number of Tibetan antelopes I observed decreased each year. You might have spotted one in the distance, but in the blink of an eye, it vanished," said Yang Xin, president of Green River, an environmental protection organization.

Zonag Lake in the heartland of Hoh Xil is known as a birthing site for Tibetan antelopes. Around May each year, tens of thousands of pregnant Tibetan antelopes begin their migration to Zonag Lake to give birth, and depart with their offspring in late July.

Driven by the lure of illegal gains, poachers swarmed Hoh Xil and turned their guns on the animals. Determined to protect the antelopes, Sonam Dargye, then a county Party official, organized an anti-poaching team and captured a number of illegal poaching gangs armed with guns.

Sonam Dargye was killed when he and his colleagues were escorting poachers during one of his patrols of Hoh Xil in January 1994.

HARD-EARNED VICTORY

According to relatives and friends who worked with Sonam Dargye, seeing Hoh Xil become a national nature reserve had been his dream.

About three years after his death, that dream became a reality. Hoh Xil was designated a national nature reserve in 1997, and a dedicated patrol team was established to conduct large-scale patrols once a month and smaller ones every three days.

"When we arrived in Hoh Xil, we knew very little about the wilderness," said 52-year-old Migcar Tashi, a member of the reserve's first patrol team.

After packing their belongings, more than 10 patrollers crowded into a truck and began their first mountain patrol of Hoh Xil, which lasted 40 days, with the aim of getting used to its high-altitude, oxygen-deficient climate and terrain. In uninhabited areas that did not have roads, they found it hard to sit still in the vehicle as it jolted through swamps and rocky terrain, Migcar Tashi recalled.

"During my first visit to Hoh Xil, I didn't see much wildlife. Seeing the endless mountains and rivers, I just felt how vast this place was," he said.

The mountain patrols often came with danger. In 2000, then-25-year-old forest police officer and patroller Zhan Jianglong and his colleagues intercepted a 12-member gang of poachers traveling in four jeeps after trekking through the wilderness for nearly 10 hours.

"They had guns in their hands, but ours were not readily accessible," Zhan said, noting that without hesitation, he and two of his colleagues had hastened to the side of one of the jeeps.

Zhan called out that they were police and pretended to draw a weapon from his back, simultaneously seizing the rifle from one of the poachers with his other hand. The patrol team overpowered the poachers and seized 750 Tibetan antelope hides, several rifles and ammunition.

Thanks to the anti-poaching campaign and the ban on illegal hunting, as well as the efforts of more than 100 patrollers over the years, tranquility has been restored in Hoh Xil, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has downgraded the status of the Tibetan antelope from endangered to near threatened.

NEW MISSION

In 2021, China officially designated five national parks, including the Sanjiangyuan National Park, which encompasses the Hoh Xil nature reserve.

According to the IUCN, Hoh Xil is home to many endemic species -- animals and plants found nowhere else on Earth. It supports the life cycle of Tibetan antelopes, which give birth on the site after a long migration.

In 2023, a 5G base station was built in the heart of Hoh Xil and began operations, enabling the remote, real-time monitoring of the area, and creating more possibilities for local conservation efforts.

Some have suggested that advancements in technology could reduce the need for human patrols in the protection of Hoh Xil. However, Sun Lijun, deputy director of the Sanjiangyuan National Park administration, holds a different opinion.

"No matter how advanced technology becomes, the role of human patrols in Hoh Xil cannot be replaced, as many situations require on-site handling," said Sun.

The vast expanse of Hoh Xil is bordered by uninhabited areas of the Altun Mountains in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and the Changtang National Nature Reserve in Xizang Autonomous Region, making the area highly attractive to nature enthusiasts and thus posing new challenges for patrollers on the reserve.

Gyatso, a 22-year-old patroller at the reserve, said that unlike his predecessors, his main opponents are no longer poachers. Rather, they are illegal trespassers equipped with advanced technological tools and undeterred by potential dangers.

"No matter how times change or how advanced technology becomes, Hoh Xil still needs human guardians. I will keep protecting the pristine land, just as my predecessors did," Gyatso said. Enditem