Rare Wild Animals in Tibet – Tibetan Antelope

There are various species of rare wild animals in Tibet. Tourists join the Tibet train tours would have the chance to witness the running Tibetan antelopes when the train leading to Lhasa across the Hoh Xil Natural Reserve.

Tibetan antelope is also noted as chiru. It mainly lives on Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and there is also a small amount of Tibetan antelopes living in Ladhak Area in India. The Tibetan antelope living in groups and is praised as the Pride of Hoh Xil. It is estimated that there is about 21,000 to 23,000 Tibetan antelopes living in the world.

Physical Characteristics of Tibetan Antelope

The back of the Tibetan antelope is bronzing while its belly is sandy beige or hoary. The face of the adult male Tibetan antelope is black and there is black mark on their legs. It is said that the harp-shape cavels of the male Tibetan antelopes plays important role in the resistance of their enemies. The careful tourists making a Tibet tour will find that the female Tibetan antelopes have no cavel. The under hair of the Tibetan antelope is very soft. Generally, the adult female Tibetan antelope enjoys a height of 75 centimeters and a weight of 25-30 kilograms while the male Tibetan antelope enjoys a height of 80-85 centimeters and a weight of 35-40 kilograms. Tibetan antelope has been listed as a first class national protected animal. With strong body, the Tibetan antelope is pretty good at running.

Tibetan antelope is one of the most typical rare wild animals living on Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. It is a species of high scientific value. It well adapted to the severe cold climate on Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The hair of Tibetan antelope is light and soft with good elasticity. Its hair is praised as King of the cashmere and also noted as Soft Gold for its expensive price. The luxury cappa called Shahtoosh has been the adoption for the noble ladies in Europe. For the protection of the rare Tibetan antelope, the U.N. Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora has prohibited the trade of Tibetan antelopes.

Living Habit of Tibetan Antelopes

Unlike the giant panda, the Tibetan antelope has great adaptive capacity. It has living on Qinghai-Tibet Plateau for thousands of years and it is able to reproduce if the human beings stop disturbing or hunting them. The Tibetan antelope could even survive in the Restricted Zone of Life – The Qiangtang Prairie in Northern Tibet, Hoh Xil in Qinghai Province and Altun Mountains in Xinjiang have an altitude of 4000-5300 meters. The moss and lichen in the tundra are the most delicious food for the Tibetan antelopes.

The activity of the Tibetan antelopes is pretty complicated. Some of the Tibetan antelopes would like to live in the same place for a pretty long time while the others would like to migrate from one place to another. The living area of the Tibetan antelope crosses 1600 kilometers from the west to the east. Seasonable migration is an important zoology characteristic for Tibetan antelopes. In summer, there would be magnificent Tibetan antelope migration on Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.