At daybreak on the northern plateau of Southwest China's Xizang autonomous region, the wind moves first. It comes out of seemingly empty country, passes over lakes and meadows, and blows toward the snowy mountains in the distance.
Through his binoculars, Kalzang Lhundrup can often see Tibetan antelopes lowering their heads to drink and wild kiangs moving slowly along a ridge. His motorcycle leaves only a shallow track on the patrol road, a faint line across the vast landscape.
On other patrols, he has seen wild yaks and black-necked cranes appear more frequently — signs to him that the plateau is recovering.
For nearly a decade, Kalzang Lhundrup, head of the Norbu Yugyel wildlife conservation station in Nyima county in Nagchu, has been reading these signs. In his world, the return of wildlife is not an abstract measure of ecological recovery. Instead, it appears through hoof-prints, migration routes and fleeting images captured by trail cameras.
Patrolling this area is hard work. The altitude is close to 5,000 meters, and roads are long, while the wind and snow can be punishing. There is also the loneliness of the wilderness, which is very much part of the job. Kalzang Lhundrup and his colleagues patrol five or six times a month, riding motorcycles in summer and driving off-road vehicles in winter. A single day on patrol may cover more than 200 kilometers.
Along the way, they record the species and numbers of wild animals they see and watch out for those that are injured or separated from their herd. In recent years, this station alone has rescued over 40 wild creatures.
