Procapra picticaudata

Tibetan Gazelle, also known as Tibetan Gazelle in English, has no subspecies and is a typical high mountain cold desert animal.

For those who are familiar with the creatures in the Hoh Xil area, the easiest way to distinguish between Tibetan antelopes and Tibetan antelopes is to see which one has a "white butt" - the Tibetan antelope has a larger white buttocks spot, so the Tibetan antelope is also commonly known as "white butt" by local people. When the Tibetan antelope runs, its snow-white buttocks sparkle in the sun, just like a mirror hanging on its body, so it is also commonly known as the "mirror sheep". Some experts pointed out that the white buttocks of the Tibetan antelope are very eye-catching, so it is not a camouflage color. Because both male and female Tibetan antelopes have white buttocks, it is not used to attract the opposite sex. The real purpose of the Tibetan antelope's white buttocks and black tail may be mainly used to convey information among companions.

Tibetan antelopes will form groups of different sizes in different seasons. Usually the groups in winter and spring are larger, often dozens of heads, sometimes forming a large group of hundreds of heads; in summer and autumn, they form small groups of a few to a dozen heads, and there are also individuals who move alone. Its sense of smell is not very sensitive, but its hearing and vision are excellent. It is alert. When it encounters a natural enemy, it will flee quickly. After a certain distance, it will stop and look back. Its running posture is quite special. It looks like it is bouncing back and forth. Then it will continue to run, or rest and eat in the same place. Tibetan antelopes are highly adaptable, have strong disease resistance, are docile and lively, and are easy to approach and domesticate.

Tibetan antelopes are ruminants that feed on various grasses. Tibetan antelopes feed on a total of 16 families, 34 genera and 43 species of plants, including 16 families, 33 genera and 42 species in the green grass period, and 12 families, 22 genera and 30 species in the dry grass period. Leguminosae are the main group of plants that Tibetan antelopes feed on, followed by Gramineae, Asteraceae, Rosaceae and Cyperaceae. Leguminosae, Gramineae, Asteraceae, Rosaceae and Cyperaceae account for about 90% of the total amount of plants that Tibetan antelopes feed on. The Tibetan antelope's diet changes significantly in different phenological periods. The proportion of Leguminosae and Rosaceae in the dry grass period is significantly lower than that in the green grass period, while the proportion of Gramineae, Asteraceae and Cyperaceae is significantly higher than that in the green grass period. Its tolerance to roughage is not as good as that of the Tibetan antelope. Early morning and evening are the main feeding times. At the same time, it often goes to the lake and mountain streams to drink water. In the winter and spring seasons when food conditions are poor, it spends most of the day foraging activities. Artificial breeding can add appropriate concentrates, feed and drink water once in the morning and evening every day.

The Tibetan antelope's adaptability to the environment is unmatched by many animals. For example, it can survive in plateau deserts and semi-deserts, especially in extremely hypoxic conditions. It has excellent hearing and vision, and can even sense the presence of natural enemies from a few kilometers away. More importantly, it can reach a speed of 80 kilometers per hour in a few seconds and can run for several hours in a row. The fastest speed of a lion is less than 70 kilometers per hour. Even the cheetah, known as the king of running, has a maximum speed of only 80 kilometers per hour, and can only run for half an hour at most. When facing natural enemies chasing, Tibetan antelopes like to jump up from time to time. Every time the Tibetan antelope jumps up, it will consume a lot of physical strength, and the running speed will be reduced a lot.

The estrus period of Tibetan antelopes is in late winter and early spring, from December to January of the following year, and they reproduce once a year. During the mating period, the competition between males is not fierce, and they only drive each other away in the group. The driven males still return to the group after the mating period. The gestation period of females is 6 months, and they give birth in about July and August. The lambing period is concentrated in July, with one cub per litter, and occasionally two cubs. The cubs can run with the females after 2-3 days. The body color of newborn cubs is the same as that of adults, but there is often a white spot on the forehead, which fades as they grow.

Wolves and lynxes are the main natural enemies of Tibetan antelopes. Due to the impact of human activities and poaching, the number of wild populations has decreased significantly compared with before the 1970s. Habitat changes caused by excessive grazing and illegal poaching are the main threats to this species. The breeding situation is unknown. China has successively established and planned to build a number of nature reserves to protect this species in the distribution area of this animal, and the phenomenon of indiscriminate hunting has been controlled to a certain extent.

Listed in the "Red List of Endangered Species of the World Conservation Union" (IUCN) 2016 ver3.1-Near Threatened (NT).

Listed in China's "National Key Protected Wildlife List" February 25, 2021 edition Level 2.

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Distributed in Gansu, Xinjiang, Tibet, Qinghai, Sichuan in China, and Ladakh and Sikkim in India.
They live in alpine meadows, subalpine grassland meadows and alpine deserts between 300 and 5750 meters above sea level. They can be seen in river valleys with abundant water sources, gentle mountains and terraces with little undulation. They particularly like places with lush herbaceous plants and abundant water sources, but their range of activities is not very fixed and they often wander around. In summer, small groups of Tibetan antelopes will gather into larger herds and migrate to higher pastures.

The Tibetan antelope is 91-105 cm long, 54-65 cm high at the shoulder, and weighs 13-16 kg. It has a strong physique, slender limbs, narrow hooves, and is agile. It has a short and wide snout, a high and protruding forehead, large and round eyes, short ears, and a short tail. The male has a pair of relatively small horns, while the female has no horns. The total length of the skull is between 160-185 mm. The eye sockets are well-developed and tubular, and the lacrimal bones are narrow and long, with a square front edge. The rear edge is concave and forms the front edge of the eye socket, and the upper edge is convex, but does not touch the nasal bone. The two sides of the rear section of the nasal bone are relatively straight, and the end is slightly pointed. The teeth are narrow, and the posterior corners of the upper teeth are well-developed to form a prominent tooth ridge; this type of tooth ridge also exists in front of the second and third upper premolars. The upper molars have si