The Chang Tang, the vast, remote Tibetan steppe, is home to a
unique assemblage of large mammals, including Tibetan antelope,
gazelle, argali sheep, wild ass, wild yak, wolves, snow leopards,
and others. Since 1985, George B. Schaller and his Chinese and
Tibetan co-workers have surveyed the flora and fauna of the Chang
Tang. Their research provides the first detailed look at the
natural history of one of the world's least known ecosystems.
The plains ungulates are the main focus of this book--especially
the Tibetan antelope, or "chiru," whose migrations define this
ecosystem much as those of the wildebeest define the Serengeti.
Schaller's descriptions of mammal numbers and distribution,
behavior, and ecology provide baseline information that may allow
wildlife, grasslands, and pastoralists to continue to coexist
harmoniously in this region.
This project led to the creation of the 130,000-square-mile Chang
Tang Reserve by the Tibetan government in 1993, and "Wildlife of
the Tibetan Steppe" should help promote future studies as well as
conservation and management efforts.
"Schaller makes significant contributions to an understanding of
the origins and ecology of Tibetan wildlife that will thrill
specialists. . . . Schaller's book is much more than an ecological
synthesis. It is a quest for conservation, a case history by a very
brave and capable man, driven by no small passion to prevent the
tragedy of extinction that looms over Tibet's fauna. His book
touches not only the mind but also the heart, and in the context of
conservation and the future it raises questions to torture the
soul. . . . "Wildlife of the Tibetan Steppe" will long remain a
unique, important source ofbiological, but also sociological,
insights and challenges. I found it well written and difficult to
put down."--Valerius Geist, "Nature"
"The topics in "Wildlife of the Tibetan Steppe" are at least as
diverse as the topography; they range from geology and paleoecology
to descriptions of ungulates and carnivores unknown to most of the
non-Chinese speaking world. Individual chapters focus on kiangs,
Bactrian camels, yaks, chirus, blue sheep, and Tibetan argalis and
gazelles. Not only is much of the biological information new, but
subsumed within these chapters are current and past estimates of
population sizes both in the Chang Tang Reserve and in protected
and nonprotected areas of 'the' plateau. Insights are provided into
social structure, and speculations about the evolution and adaptive
bases of behavior are carefully offered. Subsequent chapters
involve discussions of carnivore communities and interactions
between people and wildlife, including the localized but
devastating effects of poachers. . . . This book has something for
all audiences. . . . [A]n exciting testimony to the past and
present status of a biologically spectacular region."--Joel Berger,
"Conservation Biology"
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