China's last hunting tribe is preparing to resettle in the city and some members of the Yakute tribe are struggling with the idea of giving up their traditional life raising reindeer in the Inner Mongolian wilderness.

They have put down their hunting rifles, and the reindeer they farm will be enclosed in stables in Genhe City of north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, some 260 kilometers away from their home deep in the Greater Hinggan Mountains.

Although most people in the tribe will follow the first group of 37 into their new homes, others have chosen to stay for fear that the migration will probably lead to the disappearance of a legacy passed on from ancestors for generations.

Maria Sok, 82, who seemed a little wary of strangers, is among those who have chosen to stay in the mountains.

"The mountains where she was born and grew up are the burial ground for many of my mother's relatives, and all her memories," explained Sok's son He Yingjun.

"They are her living wealth."

One of the three branches of the Ewenki ethnic group, the Yakute tribe settled at Aoluguya ("place with lush poplar trees" in Ewenki) Township in the north part of Genhe in 1965, after leaving Ergune River valley along the Sino-Russian border.

The new resettlement, or "ecological immigration", as the local government calls it, was to improve the productivity and livelihood of the 169-member tribe, said Tian Xiaochuan, mayor of Genghe city.

The tribe had made a living in Aoluguya hunting and raising reindeer in the Greater Hinggan Mountains for the past four decades.

However, their traditional way of living is under increasing pressure as mushrooms and bryophyte on which reindeer feed have almost disappeared in the area due to the sharp decline of wild animals and environment degradation.

It is estimated that it will take at least 25 years for bryophyte in the area to rebound to its original state, said Luo Jifang, vice mayor of Genhe city.

He said the decision to move the tribe was made after consultations between the tribe and local authorities.

To make room for wild animals and plants, the Yakute people have to move out of the lush primeval forest and feed their reindeer in stables, an untried method that many hunters doubt will succeed.

Gu Xianglian, chief official of Aoluguya Township, finds it hard to give up his mountain home.

"We have our roots here, we are familiar with every single tree or river in the mountains."

However, some hunters, especially the young people, welcome their new life in the city, where they hoped to have a much better standard of living.

"Teachers in the city can teach me much better," says 14-year- old Tian Tian, while her little brother Tian Guisheng, 11, thinks more about the amusement park in the city.

Their grandmother Jong Nyho, 63, said the kids will receive a better education if they leave the mountains.

"Although some hunters did not want to move out, I did," said Jong.

"I could no longer endure the hardships on the mountains because I'm getting old."

The local government has pledged to help the Yakute with adapting to their new life..

"The government is willing to make every effort to protect their traditional culture after they settle in their new homes," said vice mayor Luo Jifang.

Houses with modern facilities for 62 Yakute families have been built in the western suburbs of Genhe, about two kilometers from the city center, together with 48 reindeer stables which cover an area of 16,800 square meters surrounded by dense forest.

"Reindeer raising will still be a major income for Yakute people, although they will be kept in stables instead of the traditional way of raising them in the wild," Luo said.

However, some hunters remain skeptical.

"The reindeer kept in the improvement station are much thinner than those we raised on mountains," said Wu Xusheng, who had argued with his mother about the migration.

"I just can't understand the migration."

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