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Population of Tibetan antelopes grows by 30,000 in five years
The population of China's Tibetan antelopes has increased to more than 100,000 from 70,000 in 1999, thanks to the protection efforts of the Tibet Autonomous Region, according to statistics from the State Forestry Administration. From 1999 to 2003, Tibet input over 60 million yuan (US$7.23 million) into the protection of the rare animals. Tibet has been cooperating with other wildlife protection departments to crack down on illegal hunting in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and Qinghai Province. In the past five years, Tibet has dealt with 346 cases of poaching and sentenced 18 poachers to prison, confiscating most of their products made of Tibetan antelopes. The Tibetan antelope, which tops the state protection list for its uniqueness to China, is scattered in Qinghai, Tibet and Xinjiang. The population of the animal shrank sharply last century, mainly due to rampant poaching. Poachers are usually driven by the high profits from selling the fur to international traffickers for making shahtoosh shawls, a luxury item which costs the lives of three to five Tibetan antelopes to make just one. The animal's population numbered in the millions in the early 20th century.
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