Guardians of Mongolian Gazelle in China

Mongolian Gazelle used to roam the steppe of Abaga Banner in the north of Xilinguole， Inner Mongolia. In the past when the regional ecology was still good， the banner was a paradise for wildlife such as swans， foxes and Mongolian gazelles. Local residents would see millions of Mongolian gazelles in the height of a migrating season. Due to the dire collapse of the regional ecology and excessive hunting， the Mongolian Gazelle was rated in China as an endangered species about ten years ago. However， more than 100 Mongolian Gazelles live on the ranch of the Ulan family in Abaga Banner.

The family consists of Ulan and her husband， her older brother and sister-in-law and their father and their kids. It operates a large ranch and owns a herd of 700 sheep and over 30 cattle. They used to lead an uneventful and good life but a few gazelles burst into their lives on the late afternoon of January 9th， 1998.

As dusk was descending， a hired shepherd was gathering the sheep on the ranch. Suddenly he heard some horrible animal screams. He turned and spotted three sheep-like creatures spurting like winds toward him. They jumped over the wire fence and landed into the ranch. Ulan rushed over. Two wolves were prowling on the other side of the fence. Ulan’s father recognized the three creatures as Mongolian gazelles. He wondered where they had come from. For Ulan， the gazelles were creatures from heaven. Two days later she learned from television news that a snow storm in Mongolia in the north had driven thousands of foxes， rabbits and Mongolian gazelles south. There were about 1，000 gazelles. As soon as the gazelles crossed the border， hungry wolves attacked and slaughtered hundreds of weak and sick gazelles. The three gazelles that had jumped over the fence survived the ruthless chasing.

Ulan took the precious gazelles into her care. She called them Barter (hero in the Mongolian dialect)， Gaowa (beauty) and Saihan (glory). In the following spring， the two female gazelles gave birth to babies. From that spring on， the group increased at a rate of two or three babies a year. In a few years， the herd increased to 15.

Worrying that the gazelles would probably get domesticated if they were mixed with her sheep on the ranch， she decided to allot a 300-hectare zone in her ranch for the gazelles， which accounted for about half acreage of the ranch. The family and relatives thought the decision would badly hurt the family income. Ulan’s father supported the measure， saying that this was a good thing for the grassland.

The local government supported Ulan’s plan and provided the wire fence and cement poles. It took the family a month to build the fence around the gazelle zone. Inside the zone was a well which used to provide drinking water for the family’s herds of cattle and sheep. Now it was used exclusively for the gazelles. The family sank another well for the herds.

Ulan visited the gazelles every day even though her private gazelle reserve is about 10 kilometers from the town where she lives. The first thing in the morning she did was to ride her motorcycle to the zone and brought water from the well to the five gutters for the gazelles. By 2004， the herd had grown to 31.

The poachers attacked the gazelles one night in the winter of 2004. Three automobiles stormed the zone. Six poachers cut open the fence， and drove the automobiles through the opening into the zone， and began to chase and shoot the gazelles. Ulan happened to be nearby. She rode her motorcycle over and to her huge horror， saw what was happening to her gazelles. She tried to stop the poachers， saying how they could hunt the Mongolian gazelles， a species under national protection. The poachers said these gazelles were wild animals and she was not in a position to stop them. Ulan stopped their guns with her chest and said， “Kill me before you kill more gazelles!” The poachers left.

The poachers killed six gazelles. The remaining 25 gazelles， frightened， escaped through the opening cut by the poachers and vanished into the night. Ulan immediately gathered her family and called a few friends to find the gazelles. Ulan’s husband finally spotted the gazelles near a highway more than 10 kilometers away from the family ranch. They tried to get the gazelles back to the ranch， but failed. Ulan’s father had an idea. He said the gazelles are always curious about light at night. Ulan set up two 500-watt lamps near the opening in the fence. They waited. The 25 gazelles came back in the fourth night. Wild with ecstasy， Ulan and her husband rapidly closed the opening.

After the poaching incident， Ulan gave every family member a mobile phone so that they could call each other in any emergency. She had a few surveillance cameras installed on the roads that connect her gazelle reserve. With such security measures in place， no poaching has happened since then.

By early 2008， the gazelle herd had grown to 76. The galloping gazelles were a beautiful sight on the ranch. But Ulan worried about inbreeding， which could make the gazelles less resistant to natural conditions and more subject to diseases. She started looking for new gazelles. After learning that some ranches near the border between China and Mongolia might have some astray wild Mongolian gazelles， Ulan and her husband hastily set out to search for such godsends in the early spring of 2008. They visited all the ranches along the border in more than 20 days. The couple finally found four baby Mongolian gazelles under the care of a few families. After hearing what the couple had done to preserve and protect the gazelles， the herdsmen were more than glad to give Ulan and her husband the wild gazelles.

In the early 2009， the couple traveled a two-way journey of 1，800 kilometers to get an orphaned baby gazelle from a herdsman living in another banner. With the help and coordination of the Abaga Banner government， Ulan also got a few more wild gazelles from another source. As new gazelles joined the herd， Ulan stopped worrying about the breeding problem.

In the autumn of 2010， the Mongolian gazelles at Ulan’s ranch amounted to 128. They love Ulan. Whenever she appears at the zone， they spot her and come to greet her from afar. She never approaches them so as to better maintain their wildness. But Ulan’s son is different. He loves galloping on the horseback with the herd.

Since the day Ulan took the three Mongolian gazelles into her care in 1998， Ulan and her family has spent more than 600，000 yuan on these precious creatures. In 2009， they even sold their SUV and some jewelry in order to cover the costs and expenses. Two tourism companies offered 20，000 a head to buy 30 gazelles， but Ulan turned the offer down. She says that the gazelles are the spirits of the steppe and should live freely under the azure sky and that she wants to leave the grassland with wildlife to children in the future.

Ulan’s protection of wild Mongolian gazelles has been highly appreciated by the government and the public. In September 2010， she received a medal of honor for environmental protection and a cash award of 10，000 yuan. The local government has set up a special fund to support the work of converting Ulan’s gazelle zone into a special reserve.

And Ulan’s ranch has become a hot destination for tourists. People come to see the precious creatures and appreciate what Ulan and her family have done for the Mongolian gazelles. □