What protection class is the Tibetan antelope under in China? Current population and reasons for migration

The Tibetan antelope, scientific name Pantholops hodgsonii, is an animal of the order Artiodactyla, family Bovidae, genus Pantholops. It inhabits alpine grasslands, meadows and high-cold desert zones at elevations of 3700-5500 m, forages at dawn and dusk, and is a good runner. As a typical representative of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau fauna, the Tibetan antelope has immeasurable scientific value. So what protection class is the Tibetan antelope under in China? How many are left?

Physical characteristics of the Tibetan antelope

The Tibetan antelope is similar in build to the Mongolian gazelle, but larger and more robust. Body length is 117-146 cm, tail length 15-20 cm, shoulder height 75-91 cm, and body weight 45-60 kg. The coat over the whole body is very thick and fine, pale yellowish-brown with a slight pink tinge, while the belly and the inner sides of the limbs are white; in males the face and the front edges of the limbs are black or blackish-brown.

The head is broad and long. In males the muzzle is thick and hairy, the upper lip broad and thick, and there are no suborbital glands. The nose is swollen and slightly raised, the nasal cavity wide, bulging hemispherically to both sides, with hair at the tip of the nose and rather large nostrils that curve slightly downward. Inside each nostril there is also a small sac, whose function is to help breathing in the thin air of the plateau, which aids fast running.

The limbs are strong and well proportioned, and the hooves are laterally flattened and pointed. The tail is rather short, with a slender pointed tip. In the inguinal region there are two symmetrical pouch-like inguinal glands, very well developed, which can secrete a fragrant yellowish-brown secretion.

Females have no horns. Males have horns of a peculiar shape, with more than 20 distinct transverse ridges, slender like a whip, glossy black, rising almost vertically from the top of the head, with only the smooth tip tilting slightly inward. The length is generally about 60 cm, and the longest recorded is 72.4 cm, very beautiful. Because the two horns are so symmetrical that from a distance in side view they look like only one horn, the animal is called the “unicorn” or “one-horned beast.”

What protection class is the Tibetan antelope under in China? How many are left?

Because it lives year-round in an environment below zero degrees, the Tibetan antelope has a thick, dense coat over its whole body. It is a Class I protected animal in China, and nature reserves such as Changtang, Hoh Xil and Sanjiangyuan have been established. It is mainly distributed in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau region of China centered on Changtang (Qinghai, Tibet, Xinjiang), with a small number found in the Ladakh region of India.

Thanks to successful conservation action, the endangered status of the Tibetan antelope has also been downgraded from “Endangered” (EN) to “Near Threatened” (NT). From the 1980s to the early 1990s, in order to obtain the precious underfur of the Tibetan antelope (used to make expensive shahtoosh shawls; because the wool cannot be sheared or combed, poachers could only kill the animals and take their skins, and making one shawl requires 3 to 5 skins), the almost frenzied poaching caused the Tibetan antelope population to plummet from nearly 1,000,000 to 65,000-72,500. After that, the Chinese government's strict protection measures have brought the Tibetan antelope population back to about 100,000-150,000.

Why do Tibetan antelopes migrate

The Tibetan antelope mainly inhabits the Changtang in Tibet, the Altun Mountains in Xinjiang, and the Sanjiangyuan and Hoh Xil nature reserves in Qinghai. Tibetan antelopes mate every December and give birth from late June to early July of the following year, with a gestation period of about 200 days. After May each year, tens of thousands of Tibetan antelopes from the Changtang in Tibet, the Altun Mountains in Xinjiang, and the Sanjiangyuan and Hoh Xil reserves in Qinghai travel to places such as Zhuonai Lake in the hinterland of Hoh Xil at an elevation of 4800 m to give birth. In August, the female Tibetan antelopes migrate back with their young, each returning to its own habitat. Places such as Zhuonai Lake and Taiyang Lake have abundant water and grass and few natural enemies. Abundant food and a relatively safe environment are conducive to the birthing and growth of Tibetan antelopes. The water of Zhuonai Lake and Taiyang Lake contains some special substances that are beneficial to the survival of mother and young Tibetan antelopes. After giving birth in a concentrated group, the Tibetan antelopes leave the birthing site and may return to a population different from the one they were in before. This is conducive to gene exchange and increases the genetic diversity of the species, thereby helping the continuation of the Tibetan antelope population.

Original text of "The Tibetan Antelope's Kowtow"

This is a Tibetan story I heard. The story took place many years ago, but every time I ride through the uninhabited region of northern Tibet I cannot help thinking of the protagonist of this story -- the Tibetan antelope that distilled maternal love into a deep kowtow.

At that time, shooting and indiscriminately catching wild animals were not punishable by law. Even today, the sound of gunfire in Hoh Xil still brings an evil echo lingering in corners that the patrol guards of the nature reserve can hardly reach. The Tibetan antelopes, wild horses, wild donkeys, snowcocks, Mongolian gazelles and so on that were once visible everywhere are now exceedingly rare.

At the time, people who often traveled through northern Tibet would always see an old hunter with long hair over his shoulders, a thick big beard, and long Tibetan boots, active near the Qinghai-Tibet Highway. His fork gun, worn smooth and shiny, hung slung across his body, and behind him two Tibetan yaks carried heavy loads of various game. He had no name, wandering to the four quarters, leaving the snows of northern Tibet at dawn and lodging at the source of the rivers at night, cooking Mongolian gazelle meat over a big fire when hungry and drinking a bowl of snow and ice water when thirsty. The skins from his catch would naturally be sold for a sum of money; apart from spending part of it on himself, he used more of it to relieve the pilgrims he met on the road, those Tibetan families who prostrated their way to Lhasa on pilgrimage, willingly walking a long road full of hardship and danger. Each time the old hunter relieved them he would always bless them with tears in his eyes: may heaven protect you, and keep you safe.

Killing and charity coexisted in the old hunter. What made him put down the fork gun in his hands was this event -- it should be said that that day was a very lucky day for him. Early in the morning, he came out of his tent, stretched, and was just about to drink a bowl of butter tea when he suddenly spotted a plump, sturdy Tibetan antelope standing on the grassy slope opposite, just two steps away. His eyes lit up: a fine thing delivered right to his door! Having slept all night, he immediately felt a surge of fresh energy throughout his body, and without the slightest hesitation he turned back to the tent to fetch his fork gun. He raised the gun and took aim. Strangely, the plump antelope did not run away; it only looked at him with pleading eyes, then took two steps toward him and with a thud dropped to its knees on its two front legs. At the same time, two streams of tears flowed from its eyes. The old hunter's heart softened, and the hand on the trigger involuntarily relaxed a little. In Tibetan areas there is a well-known saying: "The birds in the sky and the rats on the ground all understand human nature." At this moment the Tibetan antelope kneeling to him was naturally begging him to spare its life. He was a hunter, and it was only natural that he would not be moved by the Tibetan antelope's sorrow. He closed both eyes; the trigger moved under his finger; the gunshot rang out, and the Tibetan antelope fell to the ground. After falling, it was still in a kneeling, crouching posture, and the two tear streaks in its eyes remained clearly visible.

That day, the old hunter did not immediately gut and skin the Tibetan antelope he had killed as he usually did. Before his eyes there kept appearing the Tibetan antelope that had kowtowed to him. He felt something was odd: why had the Tibetan antelope knelt down? This was the only time he had seen it in decades of hunting life. At night, lying on his bedroll, he could not fall asleep for a long time, and his hands kept trembling...

The next day, with an uneasy mood, the old hunter gutted and skinned that Tibetan antelope. His hands were still trembling. When the abdominal cavity was opened with the blade, he cried out in shock and the butcher knife in his hand clattered to the ground... It turned out that in the Tibetan antelope's womb lay quietly a small Tibetan antelope. It was already formed, and of course it was dead. Only then did the old hunter understand why that Tibetan antelope's body was so plump and sturdy, and only then did he understand why it had bent its heavy body to kneel to him: it was begging the hunter to spare its child's life!

The kowtow of all loving mothers in the world, including animals, is sacred.

The old hunter stopped the gutting halfway.

That day, he did not go hunting. He dug a pit on the hillside and buried that Tibetan antelope together with its unborn child. What was buried with them was also his fork gun...

From then on, this old hunter disappeared from the grasslands of northern Tibet, and no one knew where he went.