Field biologist is used to roughing it
Print Edition
Shanghai field biologist Kang Aili has spent years in China’s harsh western and northern regions, counting animals, studying their social behavior and migration patterns. And watching as man encroaches on their habitat.
She is closely identified with Tibetan antelope (chiru) and has studied other antelope and gazelles, Himalayan blue sheep, Marco Polo sheep and many other endangered animals.
In 2005 she worked with internationally famous field biologist George Schaller, considered the founding father of wildlife conservation. He spent many years in China and together they studied Tibetan antelope and other animals. The antelope has been hunted for its fine cashmere and horns.
Kang has often been the only woman in field groups of male biologists.
Today, 37-year-old Kang leads the Western Project team of the international Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) China.
For the past 10 years field work has taken her to the Tibetan, Mongolian, and Xinjiang Uygur autonomous regions, Qinghai, Gansu, Liaoning, Heilongjiang and many other provinces. From 2004 to 2011 she spent more than half a year, each year, in the field.
“Kang is among a few female biologists in China who stay in the wild for seven to eight months each year in western areas 3,000 meters above sea level, which is challenging,” said Xie Yan, China project director of WCS China.
“Many people asked me whether, as a woman, I was afraid in the wild,” Kang told Shanghai Daily in a telephone interview. “I was not fearful at all. Frankly, I love observing wildlife.”
“If this wildlife disappears, it will be sad and my protection philosophy propels me on my path,” she said.
Not surprisingly, Kang is independent and adventurous. Unlike many pale-complexioned Shanghai “ladies” who fear the sun, Kang is well tanned and fit from her years outdoors.
She grew up in a relaxed environment with her grandparents, since her parents were zhiqing, or urban youth sent to the countryside in Yunnan Province for “reeducation” during the “cultural revolution” (1966-76).
As a little girl, she was allowed to romp outside, raise and play with animals. She even took train all by herself, which was unusual since Chinese parents are very protective.
A biochemistry major at East China Normal University, she entered the field of wildlife conservation by chance. She knocked on the “wrong” professor’s door and had the good fortune to meet Zhang Endi, a professor of life sciences. She began her journey in conservation.
Zhang was studying Chinese water deer in a repopulation program after the species had disappeared from the Shanghai area for many decades. Kang followed him and did postgraduate work in animal protection.
In 2005 she and George Shaller walked for a month and a half in icy winter in the Great Chang Tang region of Tibet.
“It doesn’t sound special, but it was one of the most wonderful research experiences in the wild,” Kang recalled. “All we did every day was look at animals and count them — no high tech. It is typical field work, observing animals, recording numbers and distribution and understanding their behavior.” In 2005, Kang spotted more than 2,200 Marco Polo sheep during research on the Pamir Plateau in Tibet. “The sheep are mysterious, hard to spot and we know very little about them,” she said.
“I am lucky to have had so many good teachers,” she said.
Her most exciting moment was spotting an endangered snow leopard in Tibet in 2009, on her birthday. She had been looking for bharal, or blue sheep.
“The power of nature is overwhelming. I am continually moved by things such as the birth of new life,” she said. “I feel sad to see animals die giving birth, because of obstructed labor, but I could not step in and help them because as a researcher I must respect nature.”
Today Kang spends most of the time training her team.
“There is no end to wildlife conservation, and there are always new difficulties and challenges, which is the most intriguing part,” she said.
The big challenge is how to balance economic development and preservation of wildlife habitat, she said, adding that China’s western regions are now being developed rapidly, meaning less land for wildlife.
“Both humans and animals must make some compromises,” she said, “but it is difficult to find a solution.”
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