ＴＨＥ　ＴＩＧＥＲＳ　ｏｆ　ＰＥＭＡＫＯ

ＧＥＯＲＧＥ　Ｂ．ＳＣＨＡＬＬＥＲ

Namjagbarwa Mountain Summit.Photo by Lu Zhi

We struggle through deep snow toward a pass, the Doxiong La. On the other side in the remote forests of Pemako or Motuo are the last tigers in Tibet. Far below us, the Yarlung Tsangpo enters the deepest gorge in the world, rushing between Gyala Pelri and Namche Barwa, both peaks over 7000m high, then turns east and finally south toward India. With me are three coworkers, Lu Zhi of Peking University, Zhang Endi of the Wildlife Conservation Society, and Zhang Hong of the Tibet Forestry Department, as well as eighteen porters to carry our one-month supply of food and equipment. Our task is to survey the wildlife in this isolated region guarded by rugged ranges on three sides and the Indian border on the fourth. It is mid-May 2000, and the mountain passes are open only from now to October.

We hurry on, away from the desolation of rock and snow, toward a basin with stands of fir and birch where we will camp. Two monal pheasants glide downslope and we record their presence in our notebooks. The region had been given protection as the Yarlung Tsangpo Great Canyon National Reserve, 9168 sq. km in size, the previous year. About 15,000 people, mostly Tibetan, Moinpa, and Lhopa live in scattered villages throughout the reserve. Many practice agriculture,converting forest to field, and many hunt wildlife such as takin, goral, muskdeer, macaque monkeys, and black bear for meat, hides, and other products. We have come to assess the impact of such activities.

Renchengpeng Monastery in Metdog. By Schaller

I am particularly interested in the status of tigers. Once half a century ago, tigers were so abundant in parts of China that they were exterminated as pests. Now this symbol of power and strength is on the verge of extinction in the country. Stragglers from Russia visit northeast China, though some may stay awhile, and a few tigers endure in the southeast. Does Pemako with its last Tibetan tigers have a viable breeding population? Tigers were widespread here as recently as 1980, we are told, but now they are rare. Yet villagers complain to the government that tigers kill their cattle and horses.

Tigers and other wildlife do, I hope, have a safe haven in Pemako because it is a sacred place. I can describe a landscape??its mountains, forests, and wildlife. However, a place may have meaning beyond its reality in that people are aware of hidden and intangible forces that I cannot see. The Indian sage Padmasambhava visited Tibet in the eight century and established Buddhism by converting belligerent deities and demons into protectors of the new faith. During his wanderings he created hidden lands or beyul, sanctuaries of inner peace and outer tranquility, earthy paradises filled with mysterious power. He wrote guidebooks to these hidden lands and secreted them, knowing that those of faith would ultimately find them. Dechen Pemako, The Lotus of Great Bliss, is one such beyul, not identified until the 17th century. Is wildlife thriving in this land of peace and purity?

One of big bends on Yarlung Tsangpo. By Schaller

Tropical warmth wraps itself around us as we descend.Bamboo, wild bananas, and tree ferns crowd the path. Leeches, malarial mosquitoes, biting flies, and heavy downpours hide from me the spiritual aspects of this land. The Monpa and Lhopa practice slash-and-burn agriculture in which forest is cut down and burned and a crop planted for a year or two before the fields are abandoned.More forest is then cut, often on steep slopes to cause erosion and landslides. The main crop on the slopes is maize, used to make an alcoholic drink, the ancient forests sacrificed for a beverage.I wondered if the people could not instead have a sustainable income from the forest by collecting and selling edible mushrooms, medicinal plants, conifer seeds for making cooking oil, and other products. We see no wildlife other than fleeting flocks of babblers and warblers and an occasional cryptic thrush. Tigers? Yes, sometimes one wanders through, we are told at villages, but it does not remain.

We are not only in a sacred hidden land but also are moving through the body of the female deity Vajrayogini who envelops the region with her protective spirit. For example, the Yarlung Tsangpo is her central energy channel, Gyala Pelri symbolizes her head, Namche Barwa one of her breasts, and the small gompa Rinchenpung her navel, the center of bliss. As ecological pilgrims we too travel to Rinchenpung high in the hills, braving whatever adversity put in our paths by demons. Yet it is clear that Vajrayogini has not been able to instill a reverence and compassion for all living beings, the basic precept of .Buddhism, in all those who make Pemako their home.

Inside a Moinpa house in Metdog. By Lu Zhi

After days of trekking we reach the administrative unit or xiang of Gedang in the Chimdro valley, the one place where tigers are said to kill much livestock. Here we are hospitably received by leader Zhang Qiusheng who gives us valuable information. He estimates that four to five tigers use the valley including a female with cub. There are 126 Tibetan households in 11 villages which own a total of 879 cattle and yaks, 437 horses, and 570 pigs. Tiger predation on livestock increased during the 1990s, reaching a peak in 1995 when 140 cattle and 27 horses were killed.

After that the number dropped to 67 cattle and 8 horses the year before our arrival. We sit with villagers in their squat wooden homes and drink butter tea to find out about their livestock losses and their feelings about tigers. In interviews with 21 households we learn that each owns on average 6.2 cattle, 4.4 horses, and 3.1 pigs of which tigers killed 0.8 cattle and 0.2 horses during the previous twelve months; nine households have no losses. A head of cattle is worth about $370 (3000 yuan) and a horse double that. With an average annual household income of about $800 (6500 yuan), even the loss of one animal has a serious economic impact.

What can be done?One reason that tigers prey so much on livestock is because their wild prey has been decimated by hunters: tigers simply cannot find much to eat except livestock.

Dr. Schaller in Metdog

Another reason is that cattle and horses are turned lose in the forest where they wander unguarded. Crowded around a smoking fire in a villager's house, we ask the assembled crowd what should be done about the problem. Comments are diverse: kill all tigers; nothing can be done because tigers are protected by law; it is up to government to find a solution. We in turn suggest that each village should guard its animals cooperatively. Tigers are reclusive and no one has ever been attacked; they would hesitate to prey on livestock with a person near. The cats also prefer thick cover. The vicinity of villages has abandoned fields densely overgrown with ferns and shrubs, an ideal situation for stalking livestock. Clear such areas and convert them to pastures, we advise. We think our suggestions sensible, but, as is pointed out to us, this requires extra work. Of course the intensive hunting of wildlife must also cease to allow the tiger's natural prey to recover.

A tiger in the wild in Medog. By Lu Zhi

With us is Dawa, the deputy governor of the county. Daily he hears of our concerns for the wildlife, forests, and livelihood of the people. As we prepare to leave Pemako north over the Gawalong La, he says one evening: "Today I tell you the truth. I was a hunter. For the past days we worked together and we were always thinking. You are right,the tiger needs wildlife. I promise not to hunt again."

About seven years have passed since we visited Pemako. I wonder if the deity Vajrayogini has protected Tibet's last tigers in this sacred hidden land.