Working to save the Marco Polo sheep
Print Edition
Chinese researchers have identified several potential ecological corridors of Marco Polo sheep, a subspecies of argali sheep, in the northwest Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.
Led by Yang Weikang, a researcher of the Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the team has identified potential ecological corridors for the sheep in the Taxkorgan wildlife nature reserve after three years of field observation and data analysis.
The research can potentially moderate some of the negative effects of habitat fragmentation and reduce the risks of extinction caused by inbreeding and the loss of genetic diversity, according to scientists.
Marco Polo sheep mainly roam in the juncture areas on the Pamirs at an elevation of 3,500 to 5,000 meters in the region adjacent to the borders of Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan and China.
The sheep are named after Italian explorer Marco Polo, who discovered the argali in Xinjiang when he arrived in China traversing the Pamirs over 700 years ago.
Their habitats have shrunk into smaller, isolated patches due to factors ranging from global climate change to human activities over the past century.
Marco Polo sheep are protected in China, which led to the creation of the Taxkorgan wildlife nature reserve in 1984. The number of these sheep in China is around 3,000, 15 percent of the world’s total.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
