Tibetan antelope has finished this year’s migration season recently. Statistics from Sanjiangyuan National Park showed that a total of 4,860 antelopes were seen migrating back to their habitats, 338 more than the number in 2018.
A Class I state-protected animal, Tibetan antelope mainly inhabit the nature reserves in the provinces of the Tibetan plateau such as Xinjiang, Tibet, and Qinghai. Their mating season is around December and females will give birth in June or July after a gestation period of roughly 200 days. Every May, pregnant Tibetan antelopes migrate across the plateau to the calving ground near Zonag Lake in Hoh Xil, situated more than 4800m above sea level. The mothers will return to their original home with the newborns in August.
The Sanjiangyuan National Park Hoh Xil office conducts frequent and intensive patrols depending on the seasonal activities of animals. Besides, the park undergoes additional annual anti-crime campaigns to protect Tibetan antelope and other rare animals in Hoh Xil.
Thanks to China’s conservation efforts, Tibetan antelope’s habitat has been improving in recent years. According to conservation officers working in Hoh Xil National Nature Reserve, there was no evidence of poaching this year. They estimate that Tibetan antelope’s population had recovered to around 70,000 in the surrounding areas of Hoh Xil Natural Reserve since 2009 vs. less than 20,000 during the 1990s when poaching was rampant in this area.
The original article can be found on: https://www.thepaper.cn/
Featured Image credit: @nationalgeographic
Translated by Li An Pan
Edited by Andrea Jia @ Animal Dialogue