Villagers fret over return of wolves
Source: Xinhua |
March 14, 2011, Monday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
THE return of wild wolves on a north China grassland is putting local villagers in a real dilemma: "the grassland king" is attacking domestic animals, but under Chinese law they are a protected species that cannot be hunted.
Across Yinshan Mountain and the nearby steppe in northern China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, wild wolves have been sighted, the first time after 40 years of near-extinction, signaling an improving eco-system while rattling local herdsmen.
In Hongshankou Village, two miles north of the regional capital city of Hohhot, children are told to stay indoors and women usually carry cudgels and stones to guard against possible attacks by wolves. Shepherds keep a close eye on their sheep grazing on the pastures.
At least five wolves have returned to the nearby Daqingshan Nature Reserve, forest police from Hohhot said after a patrol in the area.
"I would sometimes look out of the window and see a wolf wandering at the foot of the mountain, and their howls were often heard at night," said Zhang Yueyuan, a 61-year-old villagers of Hongshankou.
In Zhang's memory, those scenarios once only existed as childhood stories, when the nearby grassland and forest were still paradise for wild animals like wolves.
"Excessive lumbering and overgrazing in the 1950s stripped the mountains, and we didn't see them again," said Zhang.
Starting in 1999, the local government answered a call for environmental protection by banning lumbering and -restricting farm animals to their enclosures.
The respite from axes has helped the recovery of wildlife, which prompted the return of wolf packs, said Bi Junhuai, an expert at the World Conservation Union.
"Wolves are large carnivores at the top of the food chain. Their reappearance suggests that the area has a better food supply and a more diverse eco-system," said Bi.
In recent years, wolf attacks on farm animals have been reported in places where such predators had been absent. Shepherds have to set off firecrackers to scare away the wolves, which are protected by law from being hunted.
To reassure worried villagers, the staff of the Hohhot Forestry Department used posters and bullhorns to spread the information that wolves usually present no -danger to humans.
Preventive measures will be ramped up, but hunting is not allowed, said one poster.
Across Yinshan Mountain and the nearby steppe in northern China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, wild wolves have been sighted, the first time after 40 years of near-extinction, signaling an improving eco-system while rattling local herdsmen.
In Hongshankou Village, two miles north of the regional capital city of Hohhot, children are told to stay indoors and women usually carry cudgels and stones to guard against possible attacks by wolves. Shepherds keep a close eye on their sheep grazing on the pastures.
At least five wolves have returned to the nearby Daqingshan Nature Reserve, forest police from Hohhot said after a patrol in the area.
"I would sometimes look out of the window and see a wolf wandering at the foot of the mountain, and their howls were often heard at night," said Zhang Yueyuan, a 61-year-old villagers of Hongshankou.
In Zhang's memory, those scenarios once only existed as childhood stories, when the nearby grassland and forest were still paradise for wild animals like wolves.
"Excessive lumbering and overgrazing in the 1950s stripped the mountains, and we didn't see them again," said Zhang.
Starting in 1999, the local government answered a call for environmental protection by banning lumbering and -restricting farm animals to their enclosures.
The respite from axes has helped the recovery of wildlife, which prompted the return of wolf packs, said Bi Junhuai, an expert at the World Conservation Union.
"Wolves are large carnivores at the top of the food chain. Their reappearance suggests that the area has a better food supply and a more diverse eco-system," said Bi.
In recent years, wolf attacks on farm animals have been reported in places where such predators had been absent. Shepherds have to set off firecrackers to scare away the wolves, which are protected by law from being hunted.
To reassure worried villagers, the staff of the Hohhot Forestry Department used posters and bullhorns to spread the information that wolves usually present no -danger to humans.
Preventive measures will be ramped up, but hunting is not allowed, said one poster.
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