Przewalski's horses graze at the acclimatisation enclosure in the early morning hours at the Takhin Tal National Park, part of the Great Gobi B Strictly Protected Area, in south-west Mongolia, June 23, 2017. [Photo/VCG] Fifteen Przewalski's horses, the world's only surviving subspecies of wild horse, were released into a nature reserve in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region on Sept 27, as part of efforts to protect the rare subspecies from extinction. The group includes six stallions and nine mares, and for the first time researchers released five horses over 20 years old, equivalent to a person aged 70 to 80, according to Zhang Hefan, chief engineer of the Wild Horse Breeding Center based in Xinjiang. In the past, we selected only among the young and strong horses, usually between 0 and 13 years old, because old animals were more likely to die in the wild, she said. But the center's researchers believed that it is time to try again, since a stable natural population has formed in the wild thanks to years of preservation efforts. We have 221 horses in the wild now, accounting for half the population of the center. We believe the environment has become more supportive to help the old ones survive, she said. Protection of Przewalski's horses dates back to the 1980s. The wild horse is believed to be even rarer than the giant panda, since its current population worldwide is estimated at about 2,000. Native to China, the animal was on the Red List of Threatened Species of the International Union for Conservation of Nature from the 1960s to 1996. Then it was reassessed as critically endangered due to successful reintroductions. China imported 18 wild horses in 1985 from a number of countries and built a wild horse breeding center for their preservation. The center now has 411 wild horses. Since 2001, the center has started to release wild horses into the Kalamaili Nature Reserve in Xinjiang, which spans more than 1.7 million hectares. The horses are first put into a 200-hectare enclosure so they can adapt before beginning to live in the wilderness. Living in natural habitats will help enlarge the gene pool and improve its ability to survive, Zhang said. silicone wrist braceletsdesign your own silicone wristbandscustom braceletssilicone wristbands winnipegfibromyalgia bracelet silicone
A man riding a bicycle tries to jump over part of the Donghu Lake in Wuhan, Hubei province.PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY The extreme sports market in China is gaining favor in the capital and experts believe the industry will mature quickly. Although it started late, the domestic extreme sports market is on the right track, said An Fuxiu, founder of Sportbank, a Beijing-based sport-related investment consultancy. A growing number of companies and governments have put a lot of effort into adding an extreme sports element to the design of characteristic towns, she said. Characteristic towns are those that use a special theme - such as tourism, logistics, manufacturing, technology or culture - to drive the local economy. The country is planning to create 1,000 such towns by 2020. One successful case is Wuzhizhou Island in Hainan province, which has an annual revenue of more than 1 billion yuan ($159 million), she said. The major business there is diving. The island is also equipped with a number of extreme sports activities such as hot air ballooning. An said that during her last visit in November, considered an off-peak season for diving, the spot was still packed with tourists and divers. One significant feature of extreme sports is that they are addictive. If you try once, you want to try again. And that is why the travel site needs to introduce extreme sports contests every year, she said. You may only want to visit a place once in your life, but if there is an annual contest, then you have to go every year. Extreme sport is a promising trend for characteristic towns, and sport-oriented characteristic towns will be an important part of the business. An also explained the major obstacles in developing extreme sports in China. The fundamental problem is we don't have enough people participating in sports activities in China, let alone extreme sports, she said. Compared to mature markets overseas where people grow up surfing, diving or skating. An said a lack of infrastructure in the domestic industry was also a major obstacle to developing such a business. Another problem comes from the infrastructure side when developing such sports. One significant feature of the extreme sports market is that it requires a longer industrial chain, including land, equipment manufacturers and third-party service providers, she said. Promotion of such sports is also facing technical hurdles as livestreaming, photography and filming all require high cinematographic skills and professional gear. It is a shame if an exciting contest fails to be presented to the audience properly, and the ventures are looking to acquire professional teams overseas, An added. (China Daily 04/07/2018 page9)
