Massive calving of Tibetan antelope well guarded on "roof of world"

A Tibetan antelope is pictured in Changtang National Nature Reserve in southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region, June 13, 2024. (Xinhua/Fei Maohua)

LHASA, Aug. 29 (Xinhua) -- In the Changtang National Nature Reserve, southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region, a slightly bloated female Tibetan antelope ran back and forth on the grass dozens of meters away from her herd, and then slowly lay down.

She gave birth to a black-brown calf after six months of pregnancy. The umbilical cord was still attached and the calf could not yet stand.

The mother quickly left the delivery spot, going about 100 meters away. After several minutes, the little one, covered in sand and gravel, staggered onto its hind legs, touching the grass with the tip of its black nose as if it were kissing the ground. The mother quickly returned to the calf and caressed its body with her tongue.

This season of the year is the "season of life" on the northern Xizang plateau.

Known as the "forbidden zone of life," it has extreme weather and fierce predators. It is also a refuge for rare wild animals such as Tibetan antelope, wild yaks and black-necked cranes, somewhere they can survive and reproduce. The reserve is home to 10 national first-level protected wild animals and 21 national second-level protected wild animals.

Hundreds of thousands of pregnant antelope have migrated here, making the area around northern Xizang's Serwo snow mountain and Tianshui Bay (meaning "sweet water") China's largest Tibetan antelope "delivery room."

Male Tibetan antelope guard the femle ones during their migration to their birth-giving ground in Changtang National Nature Reserve in southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region, June 12, 2024. (Xinhua/Tenzing Nima Qadhup)

"This season, almost all the females come here for calving," said Kalzang Lhundrup, head of the Norbu Yugyel wildlife conservation station in Nyima County.

Norbu Yugyel, formerly a police officer at the local forest public security police station, sacrificed his life while apprehending poachers in Changtang in 2002. The station bears his name.

"I have known about Norbu Yugyel since childhood. In the 1990s, he caught many poachers and confiscated hundreds of Tibetan antelope pelts," Kalzang Lhundrup said.

"I grew up under his influence, and I wanted to keep protecting the Tibetan antelope," he added.

For years, Kalzang Lhundrup and his colleagues have bravely endured extreme weather conditions, scarce supplies, a complete absence of phone and internet signals, and a lack of proper paved roads on which to conduct their lengthy, arduous patrols.

Without signals and roads, their convoy relies on memory and tire tracks from previous patrols, while the uniquely shaped mountains serve as their guideposts.

"Several bursts of snow can fall in a single day, even during summer, and we have to wait for the snow to stop before we can proceed," said Kalzang Lhundrup.

Since 2015, 73 wildlife conservation stations have been set up in Changtang, with a total of 780 conservation officers, including 14 at Norbu Yugyel's station.

The rangers at Mayil (meaning "mother" in Tibetan) station "adopted" three lost young Tibetan antelope last summer, feeding them with milk until they were old enough to be returned to nature.

Female Tibetan antelope are on migration to their birth-giving ground in Changtang National Nature Reserve in southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region, June 15, 2024. (Xinhua/Jiang Fan)

Norbu, one of the rangers, recalled an encounter with a pregnant antelope on the evening of June 14 near his patrol team's temporary camp. A wolf attacked her, cutting her belly open with its teeth. The antelope managed to escape, and ran to the camp using her last bit of strength. Due to its fear of humans, the pursuing wolf retreated.

The antelope's internal organs were faintly visible through the abdominal wound, which Norbu skillfully cleansed with alcohol and slowly stitched up.

As the antelope gradually regained movement, she licked Norbu's hand and struggled to her feet, slowly heading toward the horizon, where a flock of pregnant antelope were waiting for her as the sun set.

"It snowed heavily that night. The next day, we found her body lying cold in the snow," Norbu said. "But at the same time we saw a large flock of pregnant antelope passing her, facing the sunrise, jumping over the ice and heading for the delivering ground."

Over a decade ago, it took three days on horseback for the patrol team to reach Tianshui Bay. Without cameras or laptops, they could only make a rough estimate of the situation. However, Norbu said there were probably around 10,000 pregnant Tibetan antelope there at that time, while the number giving birth this year has exceeded 100,000.

Official figures show that the population of Tibetan antelope in the region has grown to over 300,000, from about 70,000 in the 1990s. In the meantime, the central and regional governments have approved and implemented the plan and the law on ecological protection on the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau.

The dramatic recovery of the Tibetan antelope population is one of the most successful cases of human involvement in wildlife conservation, said 71-year-old zoologist Liu Wulin, who has been conducting research in the wilds of Xizang for more than 40 years.