Tibetannet

Photo shows the Tibetan red deer which is also referred to as the “Tibetan-subspecies red deer” or “Sikkim red deer”.

There is a unique species that resembles both the horse and the deer living in Riwoche County along the upper reaches of Lancang River in the Chamoling River Basin of Tibet. This kind of animal which is referred to as a “Xiawa” in Tibetan language was first discovered by scientists more than 150 years ago and has been listed into the International Trade Convention for Endangered Wild Animals/Vegetation Species.

This kind of animal used to be endangered, after being under more than 50-years of effective protection, has once again become prosperous recently. According to statistics, there are already more than 8,000 red deer living within Riwoche County.    

There are spruce forests, birch forests, snowy rose-bay shrublets, sibiraea angustata bushes as well as sea backthern bushes blooming and flourishing the Red Deer Nature Reserve. These abundant and plentiful vegetation types have provided a perfect environment for precious and rare animal species such as red deer and white-lipped deer to multiply and live in.

Trinley Chodron, the Director of the Forestry Bureau in the Riwoche County, explained that, the nature reserve was established in 1993 and became a national level nature reserve in 2005.

Mentioning the red deer, people will naturally talk about their “mora” (which means “the old granny” in Tibetan language) – Changchub Lhamo who started to protect the red deer since she was 16, it has been 45 years up from then up until now.

It was right at her family’s pasture that the core area of the Red Deer Nature Reserve was centered and set up. She also witnessed how the red deer in the nature reserve multiplied from several hundred to thousands. In 2014, there were 50 to 60 new-born young red deer that appeared within the red deer population. “Every single form of life has its meaning to live in this world, human beings are like that, and so are the red deer.” said Changchub Lhamo.

During the spring, summer and autumn time, the red deer live in the mountain forests. Only when the winter comes and the grass becomes dry do they return to the nature reserve. At this time, Changchub Lhamo would have already prepared the forage grass for them to spend the winter on. Normally, Changchub Lhamo makes her rounds in the mountains to look over and see if there are any red deer injured and needing help as well as if there are any unlawful hunters sneaking into the reserve. At the moment, Changchub and her husband as well as her son are the managers of the nature reserve.