One man's quest to protect country's endemic species

Covering less than half a square kilometer, the island is home to over 100,000 migratory birds. "I became addicted to the bird kingdom," Ge said, adding that he has so far visited the island more than 200 times to take photos.

He never anticipated that his attraction to the island would tie his destiny with Przewalski's gazelle, a relatively small, slender antelope endemic to China.

Ge was en route to the island in late 1997 to take photos of swans when he saw seven yellowish-brown animals running across the grasslands, in a line. On hearing one of his companions shout "Przewalski's gazelle", he took out his camera and took photos of them.

He was later told by wildlife conservation experts that he had captured the world's first image of the elusive antelope.

"I was so excited to hear that," he said.

His excitement, however, soon gave way to anxiety after he learned about the animal's endangered status. Only found around Qinghai Lake, there were just 300 of them surviving in the wild at the time.

The incident became a turning point in Ge's photography career, as he decided to devote his efforts to saving the gazelle and other endangered animals.

He often spent time in the wild observing the gazelle and occasionally visited local herdsman to learn what they knew about the animal.

As he followed the animals, danger was never far away. One early winter morning, Ge fell asleep while hiding near the antelopes' habitat. Woken up by howls, he saw that five wolves were chasing a gazelle about 100 meters away.

The herd was only 30 meters away when it passed the sand dune Ge had hidden behind. Though the wolves didn't find him, he was so scared that he became drenched in sweat despite subzero temperatures.

"It would have been a lot easier for the wolves to catch me than to catch that antelope," he said, a trace of fear still in his eyes.

Ge has regularly visited wildlife conservation experts in Qinghai and places much farther afield. Making full use of his time during business trips to Beijing, for example, he has visited experts at the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Forestry more than a dozen times.