Tibetan Antelope

With Tibetan very blessed geographic area, one would definitely be thinking of the beauty of its wilderness. Tibetan culture and history is greatly known by all, and it is true that it is rich culturally, spiritually and historically. Unfortunately, Tibet has also become known in the recent years for its struggle with wildlife conservation.

Tibet's wildlife species are diverse, rare and truly unique compared to the other wildlife sanctuaries and centers of the world. It is a product of the extreme conditions of altitude and temperature and its previously undisturbed natural habitats. It is truly gifted with varieties of plants and animals because of its rich lands.

Wildlife in Tibet includes a variety of animals like leopards, tigers, bears, wolves, foxes and monkeys as well as musk deer, yaks, Tibetan antelope and wild animals such as sheep, goats, donkeys, gazelles, etc. Tibetan wildlife is also rich in hundreds of bird species flying and soaring over the lands, and its wild plants including rare forest trees and other plant species. All these were in a paradise, protected by the high mountain ranges since hundreds of years ago, and preserved by the Tibetan Buddhists as part of their oneness with nature. Unfortunately, in the past couple of decades, with tourists and Chinese control over Tibet, most of the precious wildlife in Tibet is shattered and stamped on.

As the wildlife habitat keeps shrinking due to millions of hectares of forests being wiped out and sold by China in the international market, the survival conditions are getting harder and harder for the wildlife. This is not the only threat to wildlife in Tibet, however. Day by day, with the continuous hunting and poaching, more of the wildlife in Tibet is endangered. By profiting from selling wild animals’ parts like deer antlers, leopard skins, gazelle head, etc., more and more people are encouraged to kill these animals for profit.

Tibet’s grassland is important for the survival of the Tibetan people and animals, however, it has been decreasing in the past few years, not because of overgrazing but primarily because of the camping sites and military encampments of the Chinese.

Although there have been attempts of wildlife conservation conducted in Tibet, it’s still important to know that these environmental destructions will have a lasting impact and effect on the land, water, air, and those living on and in it. It is quite depressing to see that the wildlife in Tibet is vanishing to extinction, and that more and more species are becoming rare and endangered. Tibet’s environment is one of its greatest assets, and if they won’t work on its conservation, it will reach a point that wildlife in Tibet will be nonexistent anymore.

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