In June, on the banks of the Sweet Water River, the sun was shining one minute, and the next minute the temperature plummeted, the wind swept the snow, and the snowflakes hit the face like a cold and sharp knife scraping back and forth.
Qiangtang National Nature Reserve is located in northern Tibet. It is a vast land, and the core area is hundreds of kilometers away from the area of human activity; It is also a harsh land, with an average altitude of more than 4,500 meters, and heavy snow in the middle of summer; This is a vibrant land, inhabited by 10 species of national first-class protected wild animals and 21 species of national second-class protected wild animals, known as the "paradise of wild animals". Over the years, the wildlife rangers here have not shied away from hardships and dangers, eating and drinking, standing on ice and snow, walking all over the vast land of "no man's land", guarding rare wild animals represented by Tibetan antelopes.
"Hurry up, it's getting dark, hurry up and put up your tent!" Gesang Lunzhu, head of the Luobu Yujie Wildlife Management Station in the Qiangtang National Nature Reserve, said to his colleagues Solang and Rob.
A five-member wildlife management team led by Gesang Lunzhu entered the core area of Qiangtang National Nature Reserve for daily patrols. It is now a critical period for Tibetan antelopes to reproduce and migrate, with tens of thousands, or even tens of thousands, of Tibetan antelopes crossing the Tianshui River every day to the Tibetan antelope's "big delivery room" located deep in the reserve. The team should ensure that the migration of Tibetan antelopes is not disturbed by illegal intruders, and also collect relevant data to provide information for scientific research of Tibetan antelopes.
"Poaching is basically eradicated, but there are still illegal trespasses into no-man's land that need to be stopped." Kelsang Lunzhu told reporters.
From the 80s of the 20th century to the beginning of this century, poachers hunted Tibetan antelopes for profit, making the "plateau elves" endangered. In 1995, the Tibetan antelope population fell to 50,000 to 70,000 individuals.
In the darkest moment of the Tibetan antelope, groups of protectors stood up and used their youth, blood and lives to block the bullets between the Tibetan antelope and the poachers: in 1994, in a struggle against poachers, Sonam Dajie, then deputy secretary of the Zhiduo County Party Committee of Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Qinghai Province, sacrificed his life; On June 1, 2002, Luo Bu Yujie, a first-class superintendent of the former Forest Public Security Police Station in Nima County, died while arresting poachers......
The station where Gesang Lunzhu is located is named after Luo Bu Yujie. Kelsang Lundrup told reporters that he became a wildlife protector and had a lot to do with Rob Yujie, "I adore him and he is a hero in my heart." ”
Since the 90s of the 20th century, the mainland government has launched an armed struggle against poaching on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and groups of environmental protection guards have confronted poachers without hesitation, turning the tide and the Tibetan antelope population has continued and grown. According to the 2023 Communiqué on the State of the Ecology and Environment of the Tibet Autonomous Region released by the Department of Ecology and Environment of the Tibet Autonomous Region on June 5, 2024, the number of Tibetan antelopes in Tibet has grown to more than 300,000.
While talking, Gesang Lunzhu and his team members set up the tent in just over ten minutes, and then the generator rotated, the gas stove was lit, and the smell of stir-fried vegetables immediately filled the tent: scrambled eggs with tomatoes and stir-fried pork with cabbage. This is really fragrant for hungry reporters who have been driving for nearly 10 hours to the core area since 7 o'clock in the morning!
"Did you patrol like this in the past?"
"There is relatively little stir-frying and cooking, and we generally eat tsamba." Kelsang Lundrup said. Because there are no regular roads in the Qiangtang Reserve, and the frozen ground thaws in summer, vehicles are prone to get stuck in the quagmire, so they basically use motorcycles for daily patrols. Motorbikes can't carry much supplies, so except in winter, they spend the cold nights wrapped in sleeping bags around a fire lit with wild yak dung.
Complex road conditions and bad weather are just one of the problems they have to face. Outdoor work at high altitudes is difficult for ordinary people to adapt to. After entering the core area, the mobile phone could not receive a signal, and for the team members who patrol here for several months every year, the loneliness and loneliness of "losing contact" are unimaginable and unbearable for ordinary people. "At first, I was very unaccustomed to it, and I couldn't contact my family for a long time, which made me feel bad. But when I think of Sonam Dajie, Luo Bu Yujie and other predecessors, they are not even afraid of sacrifice, and our discomfort is nothing! Kelsang Lundrup said.
Everything has a spirit, whether it is a human or an animal. On the evening of the third day when the team entered the core, a wild wolf pounced on a pregnant ewe in the migratory flock and bit her belly and neck. After breaking free violently, the ewe relied on the last bit of strength to run to the camp of the professional wildlife management team. You must know that pregnant ewes are very sensitive and cautious, and when reporters photograph the migration of Tibetan antelopes, they rarely have the opportunity to get close to the flock of sheep at a distance of 100 meters. At this time, the injured ewe ran to the camp of the guard team and fell only twenty or thirty meters away from the camp.
It may be a coincidence, but it's not necessarily a given: for decades, wildlife rangers have been the ones who have kept them safe.
"It hurts us to see the wolf biting the ewe! Wanted to rush out of the camp to help it, but couldn't. Our job is to protect this land, not just the Tibetan antelope, but also the wild wolves. Kelsang Lundrup said.
The place where the ewe fell was too close to the camp for the wild wolf to dare to come forward, so he could only go away. When the rangers saw the ewes struggling in the snow, they carried them to the tents, sewed their bellies for rescue, and then released them back into the grassland as usual.
However, due to the severity of the injury, the reporter found the ewe no longer breathing two or three hundred meters away from the camp in the early morning of the next day. At this time, after a night of snowstorm, the rising sun was rising behind it, and the sky was full of red clouds, and in a few moments a large flock of pregnant ewes passed by him. They walked out of the night and towards the morning glow and sunshine.
Rebirth and death, wind and snow and sunshine, darkness and sunrise, for millions of years, the cycle has been repeated in the vast land of Qiangtang, and the Tibetan antelope and the wild wolf have each worked hard for the continuation of the race; Sonam Dajie, Lobu Yujie and Kelsang Lundrup, generations of protectors have worked in this magical land, so we can be confident that this cycle will continue.
On June 15, Gesang Lunzhu showed reporters the photos of Luo Bu Yujie that he treasured in his mobile phone. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Fei Maohua
On June 15, Kelsang Lundrup directed a journalist's vehicle through a frozen river. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Fei Maohua
On June 15, Kelsang Lundrup directs vehicles through the frozen river. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Fei Maohua
On June 13, the guards and reporters were preparing to go to bed in the tent. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Fei Maohua
On June 15, Suo Lang (right), a member of the wildlife team of the Qiangtang National Nature Reserve, and Luo Bu inspect the freezing situation on the river. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Fei Maohua
On June 13, Suo Lang (left), a member of the wildlife professional rangers of the Qiangtang National Nature Reserve, and Luo Bu unload supplies. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Fei Maohua
On June 13, Gesang Lunzhu (left) and the members of the management team presented Hada to the martyr Luo Bu Yujie. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Fei Maohua
On June 15, Gesang Lunzhu was picking up garbage from the camp, preparing to load it into a truck and take it away. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Fei Maohua
On May 10, the car of a wildlife ranger travels through a muddy section of the road on the patrol road. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Jiang Fan
In the early morning of June 15, the injured female Tibetan antelope had died. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Fei Maohua
On May 10, members of the wildlife rangers used wild yak dung to make a fire for cooking. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Ding Zengida
On June 14, a wild wolf chased a pregnant female Tibetan antelope (video screenshot). Xinhua News Agency (photo by Dawa Duoji)
On June 14, the rangers checked the injuries of the injured female Tibetan antelope. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Jimei Dorjee
On May 10, members of the wildlife rangers used wild yak dung to warm themselves at the campsite. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Ding Zengida
On June 15, the vehicle was trapped across the ice slope in the Qiangtang National Nature Reserve. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Tenzin Nyima Quzhu
On June 13, members of the Qiangtang National Nature Reserve's wildlife rangers inspect the carcass of a wild yak. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Tenzin Nyima Quzhu
On June 13, Gesang Lunzhu (center), the rangers and reporters set up a tent together. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Fei Maohua
On June 15, Luo Bu, a member of the wildlife professional management team of the Qiangtang National Nature Reserve, contacted the patrol team members through walkie-talkie. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Jimei Dorjee
On June 15, Suo Lang (left), a member of the wildlife team of the Qiangtang National Nature Reserve, and Luo Bu inspect the freezing situation on the river. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Jimei Dorjee
On June 12, members of the Mayi Management Station of the Nagqu District Administration of the Qiangtang National Nature Reserve in Tibet went out on patrol on motorcycles. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Jimei Dorjee
Source: Xinhua News Agency
Editor: Xiao Jinlan