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Four large protected areas in China have been set aside
specifically to safeguard Tibetan Plateau wildlife spe-
cies, including chiru and wild yak and their habitat, and
other reserves are proposed, Those established to date
include the Chang Tang Nature Reserve and Xianza
Nature Reserve (334,000 km2 and 40,000 km 2, Tibet
Autonomous Region), Kekexili (aka “Kokoxili” or “Hoh
Xil”) National Reserve (45,000 km2, Qinghai Province),
and Arjin Shan (or “Altun Tagh”) Nature Reserve
(45,000 km2, Xinjiang Autonomous Region). These
reserves already have positive effects and the popula-
tion decline has apparently been halted or even slightly
reversed in some areas. Other threats to the chiru and
other plateau ungulates include fencing and grazing en-
croachment by pastoralists, which interfere with chiru
migration and foraging and the expanding exploitation
of extractive industries that increase immigration and
settlement into these areas. Thus, even if large-scale
poaching is controlled, the effects of livestock increases
and husbandry modernization, as in rangeland ecosys-
tems elsewhere, are likely to be the primary long-term
threats to the high plains ungulates such as chiru (Fox
et al. 2004). Unfortunately, the calving grounds of
some large Chiru populations still remain unprotected,
and include areas threatened by road development and
mining. While protected areas generally appear to have
good effects on species conservation, law enforcement
remains weak in many Chinese reserves. This is a com-
mon problem throughout most of Asia, but very typical
of large parts of Tibet.
As fragmentation and habitat destruction associated
with road development and intensified land use along
infrastructure corridors continue to play a primary role
in relation to biodiversity loss, the relative importance
of different pressures for biodiversity may change.
While infrastructure will largely increase the acces-
sibility of humans, pests, and invasive species to the
few remaining hotspots, climate change and pollution
may further reduce the resilience of biodiversity to
cope with these or new emerging pressures. Control
of piecemeal development and its associated regime of
exploitation will therefore be essential for conservation
of biodiversity.
Alpine and desert steppe on the
western Tibetan plateau, typical
habitat for threatened or endan-
gered species such as Tibetan
antelope, wild yak, Tibetan
argali sheep, Tibetan wild ass,
brown bear and, in the more
rugged areas, snow leopard.