Tibetan antelopes in the Hoh Xil Nature Reserve have been grazing
in peace since June 2 when the reserve administration patrol team
apprehended four poachers in the area.
June and July are the months when Tibetan antelopes come together
to mate, which usually draws poachers to the area, who come for the
animals' precious cashmere. Fortunately, there have been no signs
of poachers in the region over the past three weeks, said an
administration official surnamed Wang yesterday.
"The current security of the antelopes comes thanks to the work of
the reserve administration over the past years, despite the harsh
environment and living conditions," said Yang Zhen, who has just
finished a one-month voluntary service stint with the reserve.
"We often saw flocks of Tibetan antelopes running outside our tent.
On occasion, I ran across antelope skeletons, but they all looked
like they had been there for a long time."
Yang, 38, who has worked for Beijing's Environment Protection
Bureau for 12 years, went to the Hoh Xil Nature Reserve with nine
other volunteers from other parts of the country on May 10. He and
another volunteer were assigned to the Zhuonai River protection
station 4,790 meters above sea level, an isolated and sparsely
inhabited area.
Living conditions there are really harsh, he said. The station only
has one big tent, where the volunteers and five station members
lived together. Vegetables and meat are all sent from Golmud, a
city 430 kilometers (267 miles) away. A river not far from the tent
provides sufficient water, but getting the water from the river is
not an easy job.
Yang, in good physical shape from working out in a gym for the past
couple of years, said he had to stop several times to rest when he
carried water from the river to the tent, even though the distance
was just over 100 meters.
"When you are that high above sea level, the air is very thin and
your energy is quickly sapped," he explained.
So
the members of the station wash their faces only once a week and
shower once a month. "When we started our patrol work, we just
forgot about our faces," he joked.
Over the past month, the volunteers participated in the patrols,
checking passing vehicles for evidence of poaching, and working to
promote awareness of the need to protect endangered animals among
the local people.
Cai Ga, director of the Hoh Xil Nature Reserve Administration, said
bringing volunteers to the reserve not only increases public
awareness of the need to protect the environment, but also helps to
dissuade possible poachers.
(China
Daily June 21, 2002)