Rare wildlife numbers jump in Tibet

Benefiting from efforts to protect biodiversity in the Tibet autonomous region, the Tibetan antelope population in the region has risen to more than 200,000 animals, according to Qi Zhala, chairman of the regional government.

Five rare species of land animals have been discovered in recent years, bringing the number to 1,072. Meanwhile, the population of black-necked cranes increased to more than 8,000, Qi said in the government work report delivered on Wednesday at the fourth session of the region's 11th People's Congress.

The Tibet branch of the Office of the Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission reported: "Between 2012 and 2020, much work was done to protect the ecological safety barrier and plant shelter forests. Tree planting projects have been conducted along Tibet's six rivers."

By the end of 2020, the region had planted trees on 337,333 hectares of land, dropped seeds from aircraft on 14,533 hectares and returned 21,720 hectares to forest, it said.