Our reporter Luan Yujia

My name is Guo Ming. I’m now a grade III Sheriff of the forest police brigade of Gonghe County Public Security Bureau of Hainan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. Most of my work is related to the protection and rescue of wild animals. Over the past five years, I have seen more and more wild animals such as Qinghai Lake naked carp, black necked Crane, Proctor antelope and snow leopard in Gonghe County. I can feel that the local natural ecological environment and people’s living environment in Gonghe County are getting better and better. Of course, this is inseparable from the persistence and dedication of my colleagues and I. Whenever I see wild animals being rescued, released and returned to nature, my heart is full of a sense of achievement.

Let me tell you about my experience in rescuing naked carp in Qinghai Lake. Qinghai Lake naked carp, also known as Huangyu, is a key protected aquatic wild fish in Qinghai Province and a unique rare species in Qinghai Lake. Huangyu is at the core of the food chain. The decline of the number of Huangyu directly endangers the migration, reproduction, growth and development of birds, affects the number and composition of migratory birds in the lake area, and directly destroys the stability of the “water fish bird Grassland” ecosystem of Qinghai Lake. Therefore, Huangyu plays an important role in the ecosystem of Qinghai Lake.

Five years ago, I worked in Gonghe County fishery administration station by Qinghai Lake. I still remember the freshness when I first arrived. I can enjoy the golden rape flowers and the blue lake every day. I thought, this job is good! But with the passage of time, I feel the burden on my shoulder is heavy.

What I will never forget is our normal work - patrol along the lake. It’s easy to say in summer, especially in winter. With the cold wind and the low temperature of more than minus ten degrees Celsius, and facing the severe cold and cold of freezing three feet, we should patrol the frozen surface of Qinghai Lake to prevent people from chiseling ice and stealing Huangyu.

During the winter day, we jointly inspected the lake with the town governments and police stations of shinaihai Town, Daotanghe Town, jiangxigou Town, Heimahe town and the four towns around the lake in Gonghe County, as well as the folk fish protection teams organized by some villages to observe whether there are ruts left by ice carts and motorcycles on the lake. Following these traces, you can find that there are some broken ice blocks chiseled out on the lake. This shows that there is “ice eye” nearby, and the fish thief got off the net here. Whenever we pull out the fishing net from the ice hole, my colleagues and I see the hanging Huangyu dying and struggling, and our hearts are as painful as being pricked by a needle. We carefully picked the Huangyu one by one and set them free. On winter nights, we have to squat and stand guard all night in the night when the temperature is more than minus 30 degrees Celsius to catch fish thieves.

Through the fishery law enforcement activities carried out by my colleagues and I, as well as various forms of key publicity in village communities and restaurants around the lake, such as posting slogans, hanging banners and distributing publicity materials, as well as the proliferation and release action carried out in Qinghai, the illegal acts involving fish have been effectively cracked down in the past five years, the concept of protecting Huangyu has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and the Huangyu in Qinghai Lake has been well protected.

Last May, we also rescued a snow leopard. We received an alarm from Xianggong village herdsmen in shinaihai town. They found an animal suspected of snow leopard in a grassland in the village and seemed to be injured. We contacted Qinghai wildlife rescue and breeding center in time and rushed to the scene. After arriving at the scene, we found the animal suspected of snow leopard curled up under a van. After on-site confirmation, we found that the animal is a national first-class protected animal snow leopard. It is about 1 to 2 years old, weighs about 25kg and is weak. If simple treatment is carried out and released into the wild, the probability of survival is relatively small. Subsequently, we handed over the snow leopard to Qinghai wildlife rescue and breeding center for resettlement. Now the snow leopard is in Qinghai wildlife leopard Museum.

Next, I will tell you about our recent rescue of przewalskii antelope. On April 8, we received an alarm from the masses. A przewalskii gazelle bitten by a stray dog was found in a grassland in Yuanzhe village, Daotanghe town. After receiving the alarm, we arrived at the scene. After preliminary observation, it was found that the przewalskii gazelle was a cub and was a national first-class protected animal. At that time, the przewalskii gazelle had obvious bite marks on its legs and neck, congested eyes and poor mental state. We quickly took it to the south bank protection station of Qinghai Lake for rescue. Due to the limited conditions of the rescue station, we sent the przewalskii gazelle to Xining wildlife park for further rescue.

Last year, we rescued 19 animals of all kinds, including one snow leopard and one black necked Crane, two grassland eagles, two red deer and two wolves, one owl, one coir feather crane and one gray crane, as well as wild foxes, seagulls, badgers and pheasants. With our protection and assistance, the local wildlife resources have been effectively protected, and the number and population of wildlife in the county have increased significantly, which has promoted the harmonious coexistence between local people and nature.