Tibetan antelopes offered better protection
0 Comment(s)
Print
E-mail Xinhua, August 27, 2012
China is offering better protection to critically endangered Tibetan antelopes after completing the expansion of a wildlife rescue and care center.
On Monday, a two-year expansion project of the Tibetan antelope protection center at Hoh Xil Nature Reserve in northwestern Qinghai Province was completed.
A clinic, a 108-square-meter brooder, an exhibition hall and steel fences that encircle more than 333 hectares are now in use, said Ngonga, head of the Sonam Dargye Protection Station, where the center is located.
|
|
|
A brave antelope scares a lion away. [Photo: Chinanews.com] |
"The fences, which have been greatly extended, will enable several hundred Tibetan antelopes and other wild animals to be accommodated in our backyard, and a well-equipped clinic will ensure timely and proper treatment for the injured," Ngonga said.
According to Ngonga, 239 wild animals, including 151 Tibetan antelopes and dozens of Tibetan gazelles, wild yaks and bar-headed geese, have been rescued and taken into care since the protection center was initially set up in 2004.
Tibetan antelopes, mostly found in Tibet Autonomous Region, Qinghai Province and the western part of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, are under first-class state protection in China.
There used to be millions of the animals on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, but excessive hunting and human encroachment on their habitats caused their population to plummet during the past decades.
Over the past ten years, the protection center has proved to be successful in cracking down on illegal poaching and growing the population of Tibetan antelopes, said Pugdrup, head of the Hoh Xil Nature Reserve administration. The reserve is now home to more than 70,000 antelopes.
Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)