I have a wildlife zoo-Chapter 480 Community Protection
When they arrived at Qunan’s house, it was already afternoon.
Upon arriving at Qunan’s place, Fang Ye and his companions greeted the lady of the house and Qunan’s children with "tashi delek."
The little girls and boys, their faces a bit darkened from the sun, wore ethnic jewelry and dressed in simple attire.
Lan Li took out several packs of candy and chocolate she had prepared earlier and said with a smile to the children, "Hello, this is a gift for you!"
The children were a bit shy and did not take them.
Qunan looked at the gifts and said something to the children, and only then did they accept them, continually thanking them.
The hardworking hostess enthusiastically brought over butter tea and some snacks, and though she couldn’t speak Mandarin, she kept gesturing for them to drink the tea and eat the food.
Fang Ye tried the butter tea and found it quite to his liking, creamy and rich with a salty yet fragrant flavor.
Duoji said with a laugh, "Drinking this is beneficial. It can help relieve altitude sickness and also prevent chapped lips!"
"Really? Then I should drink more." Fang Ye replied.
The best time to observe most wildlife is early in the morning at dawn and in the evening when it’s getting dark; animals are relatively more active during these periods.
They could go out and look for snow leopards before dark, but Fang Ye was not in a hurry.
He stayed inside the house, happy to chat with the Tibetans and learn about the work Teacher Lü and others were doing there, and to see how the locals coexisted with the snow leopards.
Seeing that Fang Ye was interested in understanding more, Qunan happily shared local legends and some community initiatives on animal protection, with Duoji helping to translate for them.
Qunan said, "The snow leopard is the mount of the sky-walker warrior!"
Duoji helped to explain that in Tibetan Buddhism, a sky-walker is a type of guardian deity, referred to as sky-walker mother for females and sky-walker warrior for males.
Fang Ye listened, gaining a deeper understanding, nodding frequently.
In this region, there is a culture of sacred mountains and holy lakes.
Before the Tibetan Empire, the worship of mountain deities was a common belief throughout the Tibetan region, with each tribe having its own specific sacred mountain, and the deities residing on these mountains were worshipped as "Guardian Deities" of the tribes.
This cultural belief has continued, as Tibetans think of sacred mountains as having emotions like humans, including mountains that protect people and those that punish them.
Therefore, the Tibetans living here respect nature even more.
Qunan explained that harmonious relations are beneficial for both humans and animals, regardless of whether they are people, insects, or wild beasts; they all have the right to live equally.
This culture of nurturing equality among all beings naturally lends itself to a more favorable attitude toward wildlife.
For them, a snow leopard, akin to the mount of a mountain deity, walking along the ridges, is regarded with great respect.
When researchers came to survey snow leopards, they asked for the villagers’ assistance.
At the time, the impact of mining was severe as the mining activities took place on the locals’ sacred mountains and holy lakes. Continue your saga on novelbuddy
So the local people were happy because if conservation was promoted, they had the right to intervene, including dealing with poachers or miners from outside, and protecting the sacred mountains and their surroundings was meritorious, gaining the support of many herders in the village.
Fang Ye listened with a sense of admiration!
When initially protecting pandas, there was a constant campaign to the surrounding villagers. People kept asking, "Why should we protect pandas, and what does it have to do with us?"
But in Tibetan areas, Tibetans do not think protecting animals or caring for wildlife is a special matter; instead, it is a natural one.
After the establishment of the Sanjiangyuan National Nature Reserve, the protection mechanisms adopted by the locals were also accepted and became an innovation here.
In the national park, each household employs a monitoring officer, who is paid a salary of 1800 yuan per month to monitor snow leopards, install infrared cameras, collect data, and conduct anti-poaching patrols.
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Villagers have a better understanding of local wildlife distribution and the terrain of the mountain roads, and local people are accustomed to living in high-altitude areas, while researchers struggle with various discomforts when traversing mountains and ridges.
This approach also took poverty alleviation into consideration; it can be said to have multiple benefits.
As a monitoring officer, Qunan’s main task is to install cameras in areas frequented by snow leopards and various other wildlife, checking them 3 to 5 times a month to ensure they are working, have power, and that the storage cards aren’t full. During these inspections, he also patrols the mountains and helps to clear away garbage.
Of course, human-wildlife conflicts have always existed.
In some villages, over two hundred cattle can be preyed upon by snow leopards in a year.
However, this cultural respect for holy mountains and sacred lakes, and respect for animals, play a very important role in the midst of these conflicts.
The public’s tolerance has significantly increased, allowing snow leopards to maintain a healthy population on the plateau.
After conducting surveys and studies, the Shan Shui Conservation Center sought to address these human-wildlife conflicts.
Ultimately, the problem of human-wildlife conflict boils down to conflicts between humans themselves, and the differing views on how to treat wildlife among different groups of people.
Because unlike these researchers and people from the outside who love wildlife and wish for snow leopards to survive here, they have not paid any price, while the locals have made real sacrifices.
Regardless of whether the locals want to protect wildlife or not, it’s unfair for them to bear the cost.
Therefore, a human-wildlife conflict fund was initially established, with part of the money coming from the national park, another part from the Shan Shui Conservation Center, and herders insuring each of their cows for 3 yuan.
There are auditors in each village. If herders find that their cattle have been taken, they can contact the auditors to take photos, and then the auditors upload the records and apply for compensation.
After the fund was established, it reduced losses to some extent, lessened revenge killings, and made herders more willing to participate in community conservation efforts.
Later, they applied for the special operation rights of the national park, which is now the Valley of the Cats experience project.
Those monitoring the snow leopards have a wealth of knowledge about their habits and can bring tourists for experiences, also providing subsidies to the Tibetans.
After the first year of special operation began, the income was quite good. The local government and villagers discussed together how to spend the money.
Tibetan communities pay great attention to fairness.
The protection of snow leopards is not just the effort of one person, but the collective effort of the entire village, so the benefits should be shared.
In the end, it was decided that the tour guides, who are also monitoring officers, would receive 45%, another 45% would go to the community, which could be used for things like buying elderly insurance, and the remaining 10% would be invested into the livestock compensation insurance fund.
Fang Ye listened with great admiration, "That’s really impressive!"
This model of Angsai is an excellent example of harmonious coexistence between humans and animals.
It is not just about compensating villagers but about respecting them and promoting them as the main actors in conservation.
Many people are continuously striving to explore the protection of wildlife.
