CAPTIVE BREEDING TIBETAN ANTELOPES

[Guest guest]

 Tibetan antelope should not be raised in captivity, expert

 

www.chinaview.cn 2005-08-22 12:23:10

 

 

URUMQI, Aug. 22 (Xinhuanet) -- Chinese experts oppose the suggestion of

raising Tibetan antelope in captivity as a way to protect this rare wild species

from extinction.

 

As Tibetan antelope is under the threat of rampant poaching and degenerated

living environment, some people advised that the government should breed the

animal in captive cultivation program,just like the way of raising pandas.

 

" This is a dangerous idea, " said Zhang Li, the chief representative of

International Fund for Animal Welfare, a China office, at a conference attended

by China's Qinghai Province and Xinjiang Uygur and Tibet autonomous regions

opened Sunday in Xinjiang's capital city of Urumqi.

 

" So long as the captive breeding is put into practice, poaching will be

stimulated greatly. As a result, wild Tibetan antelope may face extinction, " he

said.

 

Xie Yan, the project officer of Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) China

office said, unlike panda, a kind of species which greatly relies on man's

protection, including copulation to ensureits survival, Tibetan antelope is a

kind of animal with outstanding evolution advantages. " Tibetan antelope can care

aboutitself well if without human interference. "

 

The Tibetan antelope, an endangered species at the top of China's protection

list, is native to the grasslands of China's Qinghai,Xinjiang and Tibet. The

three areas have the world's major Tibetanantelope habitats.

 

The population of the animal shrank sharply last century, mainly due to

rampant poaching and the degeneration of living environment. International

traffickers to make shahtoosh shawls, aluxury item that uses the fur of three to

five Tibetan antelopes to make just one.

 

Dr. George Schaller from WCS carried out a 10-year survey on Tibetan

antelopes and other wildlife in Tibet since 1985. According to his calculation,

chiru, or Tibetan antelope, population has shockingly dropped from millions at

the turn of the20th century to only about 75,000 due to aggressive poaching. At

present, no exact chiru number is available.

 

Since 1979, the Tibetan antelope has been recognized as a threatened species

and protected under the Wildlife (Protection) Act of India. It has also been

classified as Appendix I in the Convention on the International Trade in

Endangered Species (CITES), which means that any trade of the animal and its

products is banned. Since 1989, the animal has been listed as Class I protected

animal in China's Wildlife Protection Law. Enditem