Majestic Qinghai · The Legend of Sanitary Antelope Protection by Three Generations of Guardians Under the Snowy Life Tree
On the Hoh Xil in Qinghai, with an average altitude of over 4,000 meters, the agile figure of the Tibetan antelope running is a vivid mark of the ecological beauty of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and a precious picture earned by generations of guardians with their original aspirations. The recently popular Chinese TV drama The Tree of Life brings the story of protecting Tibetan antelopes on this land to the screen.
The prototype of County Magistrate Duojie in the play is exactly plateau heroes such as Sonam Dargye and Zhaba Dorje. From the life-and-death struggle in the 1990s to the joint protection by all people today, three generations of guardians have carried forward for decades, reviving the endangered Tibetan antelope and writing an ecological chapter of harmonious coexistence between humans and nature on the snowy plateau. This spirit of protection passed down from generation to generation has also become the most profound ecological background of majestic Qinghai.
This snow-covered plateau is not only the home of the Tibetan antelope, but also a rich land of Tibetan culture and art, Regong culture, with folk crafts such as Regong Thangka paintings being passed down from generation to generation.
The Tibetan antelope is a unique first-class national protected animal on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and a flagship species of the plateau ecosystem. Its population size is directly related to the health and balance of the entire ecological chain. In the early years, shatoosh shawls made of Tibetan antelope undercoat made huge profits in the black market. One shawl required 3 to 5 Tibetan antelope skins. The rampant poaching reduced its population from nearly one million to less than 20,000 in the 1990s, pushing it to the brink of extinction. This ecological crisis forced batches of Qinghai people to take up the banner of protection and embark on an arduous and enduring road of protection passed down from generation to generation.
First Generation of Guardians: Devote Lives to Missions, Ignite the Spark of Protection on the Snowy Land
In the 1990s, poaching was rampant in Hoh Xil, and the wails of Tibetan antelopes echoed across the plateau. At that time, protection work was almost blank, and confronting poachers meant confronting life and death. Sonam Dargye, the pioneer of Tibetan antelope protection, took the lead in stepping forward and lighting the first beacon of protection in desperate circumstances. Despite threats from poachers and the test of high cold and oxygen deficiency, he established China’s first civilian anti-poaching patrol team and promoted the construction of the first protection station in Hoh Xil, completely breaking the dilemma of no protection for Tibetan antelopes.
Hoh Xil was a forbidden zone for life back then, with no roads, no stable communication, and no sufficient supplies. Sonam Dargye led his team members to traverse tens of thousands of square kilometers of uninhabited areas by old vehicles, horses, or even on foot.
The extreme cold of minus 30 to 40 degrees Celsius, altitude sickness, and occasional encounters with poachers were their daily routine, but he never flinched. In 1994, Sonam Dargye sacrificed his life in an anti-poaching operation, building the first line of defense for Tibetan antelopes with his life. He has become an immortal monument of protection in Hoh Xil and deeply rooted the belief of protection in the hearts of the plateau people.
The spirit of heroes lives on, and later generations carry forward the cause. After Sonam Dargye’s sacrifice, his brother-in-law Zhaba Dorje resigned from his official post and established the Hoh Xil Wild Yak Team, uniting scattered patrol forces to make anti-poaching move from individual fights to large-scale and normalized operations.
He followed the hero’s footsteps to traverse the entire uninhabited area, patrolling more than 300 kilometers per day on average, eliminating poaching tools, rescuing injured Tibetan antelopes, severely curbing the momentum of poaching, safeguarding the achievements won by the first generation of guardians with their lives, and becoming the most touching creative blueprint for The Tree of Life.
Second Generation of Guardians: Uphold Original Aspiration with Professionalism, Lay the Foundation for Scientific Protection
The spark of protection ignited by the first generation of guardians has been upgraded from "life-and-death struggle" to "scientific protection" in the hands of the second generation, bringing Tibetan antelope protection into a new stage of standardization and scientization. Ecological workers, researchers, and herdsman caretakers who took over the baton stick to their original aspirations with respect, make up for the shortcomings of early protection with professional knowledge, and make protection more efficient and powerful.
Breaking away from the extensive patrol mode of the first generation, the second generation of guardians built a grid-based patrol system, dividing the habitats and migration routes of Tibetan antelopes into responsible grids to achieve full coverage without dead ends. At the same time, they introduced infrared cameras, drones and other equipment, deployed a high-density monitoring network, accurately grasped the population size and activity rules, and provided hard-core data support for protection work.
They cooperate with scientific research institutions to restore the habitats of Tibetan antelopes, remove migration obstacles and optimize the living environment; establish professional rescue stations to provide refined treatment and wild release for injured and lost Tibetan antelopes. After decades of intensive work, the population of Tibetan antelopes has steadily rebounded. In 2016, its IUCN Red List category was downgraded from "Endangered" to "Near Threatened", becoming a classic case of global endangered species protection.
Third Generation of Guardians: Pass the Torch with the Whole People, Paint a Picture of Plateau Coexistence
After the perseverance and laying of the foundation by the first two generations, Tibetan antelope protection has now changed from a life-and-death retrograde of a few people to a conscious action of all ethnic groups on the plateau, and the third generation of guardians has emerged as the times require. Rooted in the spirit of heroes and based on the scientific system, they spread the spark of protection all over the snowy land, painting a warm picture of everyone’s participation and harmonious coexistence between humans and nature, which is also the core theme of The Tree of Life.
A large number of herdsmen around the habitat have become full-time ecological caretakers, many of whom are descendants of the first generation of patrol team members. With the belief of inheritance, they have completely transformed from grassland users to ecological guardians. They pay attention to the traces of Tibetan antelopes while grazing, report abnormalities in a timely manner, guard the passages during the migration season, protect the population, and rescue cubs, becoming the backbone of protection work.
The third generation of guardians deeply promotes ecological science popularization, spreads protection knowledge and inherits heroic deeds in pastoral areas and campuses, deeply roots the concept of "protecting Tibetan antelopes is protecting our homeland" in people’s hearts, and attracts a large number of volunteers to join the team. At the same time, they build an intelligent monitoring platform with big data and artificial intelligence, promote the integration of ecological protection and people’s livelihood development, develop ecological animal husbandry and experience industries, and achieve harmony between humans and animals, and a win-win situation for ecology and people’s livelihood.
Today, there are more than 2,000 caretakers and volunteers participating in Tibetan antelope protection in Qinghai all year round. The population has recovered to more than 70,000, and the activity range continues to expand. The picture of groups of Tibetan antelopes galloping has become the most touching ecological scenery in Hoh Xil.
Three Generations in One Line, Torch Passed On: The Spirit of Protection Illuminates the Ecological Road of the Snowy Land
From Sonam Dargye and Zhaba Dorje devoting their lives to missions, to the second generation’s professional intensive work, and then to the third generation’s joint efforts by all people, three generations have passed through decades with the same original aspiration: to protect Tibetan antelopes and the ecological beauty of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. This clear inheritance context is a true portrayal of Hoh Xil’s protection history.
This three-generation inheritance of protection is the inheritance of spirit—the power of heroes inspires later generations to take root in the plateau and fear no hardships; it is the iterative upgrading of measures—from foot patrols to intelligent monitoring, protection methods are increasingly improved; it is the continuous growth of strength—from fighting alone to joint protection by all people, fully demonstrating the ecological responsibility of the plateau people.
The success of Tibetan antelope protection has not only realized the rebirth of endangered species, but also driven the comprehensive restoration of the ecology of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. As a key link in the ecological chain, the stable reproduction of Tibetan antelopes provides survival guarantee for dozens of carnivores. The number of rare wild animals in Hoh Xil has increased significantly, the grassland and wetland ecology continues to improve, the ecological function of the "Chinese Water Tower" is becoming more stable, and the Qinghai model has also contributed a Chinese solution to global endangered species protection, winning wide international recognition.
The story of The Tree of Life has an ending, but the ecological protection of the plateau will never end. The heroic spirit of Sonam Dargye and Zhaba Dorje is like an evergreen tree in the snow, which has grown luxuriant after three generations of watering. Generations of plateau people keep their faith in mind, protect Tibetan antelopes with perseverance, and guard the ecological background with original aspirations, making this snowy plateau forever vibrant and magnificent.
