STORY: How UNESCO-listed Hoh Xil transforms from poaching hotspot to model for wildlife protection
SHOOTING TIME: Recent footage and file
DATELINE: Feb. 13, 2025
LENGTH: 00:00:54
LOCATION: XINING, China
CATEGORY: ENVIRONMENT

SHOTLIST:
1. various of Hoh Xil National Nature Reserve  

STORYLINE:

Over the past 30 years, more than 100 patrollers have dedicated themselves to safeguarding the nature of the Hoh Xil National Nature Reserve on the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau, which is known as the "roof of the world."

Situated at an average altitude of nearly 4,900 meters and covering an area of 45,000 square kilometers, Hoh Xil was included on the UNESCO world heritage list in 2017.

According to the UNESCO website, "Hoh Xil's geographical and climatic conditions have nurtured a unique biodiversity."

However, these abundant natural resources once brought violence to Hoh Xil. In the 1980s, driven by the lure of illegal gains, poachers swarmed Hoh Xil and turned their guns on the animals.

Poachers hunted the Tibetan antelopes, a species under first-class state protection in China, for their hides, which were later made into shahtoosh shawls. Just one shawl required three to five antelope hides and could sell for up to 50,000 U.S. dollars, according to media reports at the time.

Thanks to the anti-poaching campaign and the ban on illegal hunting, as well as the efforts of patrollers over the years, no poaching gunfire has been heard in Hoh Xil since 2009. 

The population of Tibetan antelopes has increased from below 20,000 in the late 1980s to more than 70,000. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has downgraded the status of the Tibetan antelope from endangered to near threatened.

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Xining, China.
(XHTV)