The man who protected Ili pikas in Xinjiang to retire after 35 years

World
Europe

For the past three decades, Li Weidong, now 63, has been searching for and protecting an animal rarer than giant pandas and endemic to the Tianshan region of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

In 1983, Li discovered the Ili pika, a furry mouse-like animal from the pika family, in the rocks of the Tianshan Mountains. For the next 35 years, he has devoted himself to the protection and conservation of the shrinking species, which numbers fewer than 1,000 in China.

Li Weidong giving a speech. /Global Times Photo‍

In July, he led a team to Xinjiang's Jinghe and Nilka counties for an investigation into the animal's habitat. Since 2002, Li has been doing similar field surveys once every four years. However, this might be his last due to his age.

"Field studies require us to work on top of the Tianshan Mountains. At my age, I can only work a few more years. I hope more young people can succeed me in the job," he told the audience on Yixi, a speech- sharing platform similar to TedX.

Finding the Ili pika

One morning in July 1983, when Li, then an epidemic prevention officer, was doing field work in Nilka county, Xinjiang, when he accidentally spotted a small furry animal racing past in front him in the rocks of the Tianshan Mountains.

Back then, Li's job was to search for rodents in rural areas and check if they carried the plague or other diseases. But the moment he saw the animal that looked like a cross between a mouse and a rabbit with big round ears, round eyes and a small tail, he knew it was different from anything he had ever seen.

Conservationist Li Weidong leading the climb up the Tianshan Mountains to observe the conditions of the Ili Pikas. /CGTN Photo

He brought a sample of the animal down from the mountains and checked the lists of rodents. He didn't find a single animal that matched the one he just saw. He then consulted experts from the Chinese Academy of Sciences; no one knew what it was.

Li realized that he may have found a new species. But just one sample wasn't enough. In the three years that followed, Li searched for the animal in the mountainous area, hoping to find more to prove the existence of the species.

Through his research, he managed to piece together the traits of the animal. It lives at an altitude between 2,800 meters and 4,100 meters on the Tianshan Mountains, doesn't drink, and it feeds on rare mountain vegetation such as Tianshan snow lotus and arctic root. They appear to be solitary animals as Li has never seen two Ili pikas at the same time.

The high altitude of their habitat means he often has to climb mountains to search for them.

He usually rides a horse to find the Ili pika on top of the mountains. Once, due to heavy mist, he got lost at an altitude of 3,400 meters. After the mist cleared, he suddenly spotted the animal again.

Since Li was born and raised in Ili, he decided to name the animal Ili pika.

In order to learn more about their living range, habitat and traits, Li moved from the disease prevention department to conduct field research on the animal.

Over the past three decades, he has gone through almost every inch of the Tianshan Mountains in order to study the habitat of the Ili pika.

Sanctuary needed

Between 1992 to 2014, Li and his team didn't spot a single Ili pika in the wild, an alarming signal. Over the past 35 years, Li estimates that the population of Ili pika has shrunk from 3,300 in 1992 to fewer than 1,000.

An Ili Pika at No.1 Glacier, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, NW China.‍ /Li Weidong Photo

Over time, Li's attitude toward on how to preserve the animal has changed.

In the beginning, he did not want the Ili pika to be known to the outside world as he feared the cute animal would attract poachers or visitors who want to see or breed it. His philosophy was "no interference" and "no sanctuary" for the animals, allowing them to live freely.

However, climate change and environmental changes have created crisis conditions. As the area of glaciers in the Tianshan Mountains shrinks, and as grasslands decline, herdsmen had to climb higher and higher up the mountain to walk their herds.

This brought shepherds, an enemy of the Ili pika. The animals are also threatened by inbreeding and natural predators such as snow leopards.

In 2002, he found that among the 14 observation points located in seven cities and counties to the south and north of the Tianshan Mountains, the Ili pika could only be observed in two of these observation points.

"With 71 percent of their habitat lost, their population dropped quickly and this is a very dangerous situation," Li told China Youth Daily.

In 2005, the Ili pika was included in China's Redbook of endangered animals. In 2008, it was listed as endangered on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List.

Starting in 2015, Li established a workshop on the protection and conservation of the Ili pika. He managed to get the support of the local government to establish two sanctuaries for the animal.

Many herdsmen in the sanctuary in Jinghe have now become volunteers at his workshop. They help Li look after the cameras set up in the wild to observe the animal, and prevent poachers from entering.

Li also invited designers to turn the image of the Ili pika into cartoons so as to attract the attention of young people, so they would value and help protect the animal.

Source(s): Global Times