Antelopes, Tigers and Bear Parts

Recently, I saw a movie called Ke Ke Xi Li 可可西里 which takes place in an area of Tibet which experienced the massive slaughter of Tibetan antelopes in the 1990s. A group of volunteer Tibetans formed a patrol team to fight the antelope poaching with mixed results. It's a straight forward film with some really nice scenic shots and a touching story. Check it out...

A while back I got an email from Iain, a Briton who is host of an overseas group called Save Chinese Tigers. I promised to highlight their website and cause on this website. Good luck, folks!


On the streets of Dalian these days there are quite a few street vendors who are selling all kinds of animal parts for medicinal purposes. These include bear claws with flesh and skin still on the bone, skeletal remains of some kind of deer or antelope and lots of internal organs of various animals. Not a pretty sight. I'm not sure they have any proven medicinal value but these street vendors always get curious onlookers and make some sales.

My feeling about animal conservation goes a bit like this; in China, I find often people are not treated well or with much respect, why would it be any different with animals? A visit to any Chinese zoo would confirm this sentiment.
I've been to a couple of zoos in China and they were animal prisons. Concrete cell blocks for homes and the visitors would often throw food and other objects at the animals. There's a Tiger Conservation area in Harbin, although I never bothered going there, everyone I've talked to who went there said it wasn't very effective in creating a 'wild' environment for the tigers. Visitors can purchase live animals like chickens and even whole cows to be released into the wild for the tigers to 'chase' and eat. Doesn't sound that natural does it...?

So what can be done about this? Education is the key, teaching kids to respect the environment and animals is probably the most effective way of curbing these problems. Convincing the government to include it into the education system is another problem altogether. That's why websites like Save Chinese Tigers is a good way for us to learn more about endangered animals.