7 baby antelopes rescued at lake reserve

SEVEN baby antelopes who got lost during migration were safely sent to a wildlife rescue center yesterday in northwest China’s Hoh Xil nature reserve.

Zonag Lake in Hoh Xil is known as the “delivery room” for the species. Every year, tens of thousands of pregnant Tibetan antelopes migrate to Hoh Xil in May to give birth, leaving with their offspring in August.

“The babies can get separated from the migrating groups during the journey which can be as long as 1,600 kilometers,” said Guo Xuehu, vice head of the Zonag Lake protection station.

The station saved the seven babies, transferring them to the wildlife rescue center of Sonam Dargye protection station.

The rescuers will feed them milk to start with and later take them to grasslands. They will be set free in July next year when the mother antelopes start their migration again.

The rescue center was set up in 2000, and more than 400 antelopes have been saved there.

Tibetan antelopes are mostly found in Tibet Autonomous Region, Qinghai Province and Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. The species is under first-class state protection.

In the 1980s, the Tibetan antelope population fell sharply from 200,000 to 20,000, due to illegal hunting. It has recovered thanks to measures to improve its habitat and a hunting ban.