Wildlife thriving in high plateau

In order to bring harmony between wildlife and herders, Tsering's bureau has established 15 patrol stations in the reserve, and 135 local residents are employed to work as professional patrolmen.

In 2018, the local forestry bureau invested more than 4 million yuan ($568,533) for ecological preservation work and the bureau is awaiting completion of the patrol station in one of the county's depopulated areas.

"The awaiting patrol station is located 165 km away from the county town, and once its completion is expected by the end of the year, 15 patrolmen will work there," Tsering said.

"Thanks to the patrols guarding ecological safety around the clock, we no longer hear about people attacking wildlife. We only hear about tourists driving close to animals to take pictures," he added.

The forestry and grassland bureau in Nagchu said there are 36 patrol stations, 390 patrolmen and more than 200 locals employed temporarily every year as ecological protectors in the city.

The central government has invested more than 15 million yuan over the 36 patrol stations annually, with 21,435 rural residents of the city employed as patrolmen of grasslands and forests and more than 75 million yuan spent every year on paying subsidies to locals involved in ecological protection. The annual ecological subsidy paid to rural residents engaged in conducting ecology patrols was raised to 3,500 yuan per capita.

The bureau said the reserve's number of Tibetan antelope has increased from more than 50,000 before the establishment of the reserve to more than 200,000 now. The population of wild yaks has increased from 2,000 in the past to more than 10,000 now and wild asses grew from 50,000 to 90,000 now. Populations of snow leopards, argali and blue sheep have also increased in recent years.

The regional government has been encouraging rural residents to undertake ecological protection in recent years, with 667,000 jobs related to the environment offered in 2018.