China News Agency, Lhasa, May 17 (Reporter Ran Wenjuan) The reporter learned from the Forestry and Grassland Bureau of Nagqu City, Tibet Autonomous Region on the 17th that in the Nagqu Biodiversity Survey Project jointly carried out by the bureau and the Shanshui Nature Conservation Center, the first time in Nagqu City Jiali County recorded the moving images of the national first-class protected animal golden cat, filling the gap in the distribution of golden cats in Nagqu City, and 4,300 meters is also the highest distribution altitude record of golden cats in the world so far.
In order to investigate the status of biodiversity in Nagqu and guide conservation actions, Nagqu City Forestry and Grassland Bureau and Shanshui Nature Conservation Center will cooperate since 2021. A total of 11 counties and districts in Nagqu City have selected representative habitats as monitoring areas. Select 10-15 grids of 5X5 kilometers for each monitoring area, and deploy 1-2 infrared cameras in each grid. At present, a long-term monitoring network of 197 infrared cameras has been deployed, with a total of more than 60,000 infrared camera working days. .
The golden cat, also known as the Asian golden cat, is a medium-sized cat that feeds on small animals such as pheasants, small ungulates, and rodents.
The body color of golden cats is changeable. Generally, individuals at low altitudes are mainly dark red and black, and individuals at high altitudes are mainly piebald and reddish-brown.
The golden cat photographed this time is a piebald individual.
Zhao Xiang, conservation director of the Shanshui Nature Conservation Center, said: "This monitoring fills the gap in the distribution of golden cats in Nagqu and increases everyone's understanding of the biodiversity in the high-altitude area of Nagqu."
Some people believe that the golden cat is the prototype of "Biao" in traditional culture.
In China, golden cats used to be widely distributed in a wide area of central China, east China, south China and southwest China, but in recent years records have only been found in northern and western Sichuan, southern Shaanxi, western and southern Yunnan, and southeastern Tibet. .
Studies have shown that the geographical range of golden cats has decreased by 68% in the past two decades, and it may continue to decrease in the future.
Therefore, the golden cat is listed as a national first-class protected animal, and is rated as "endangered" in the newly released "China Biodiversity Red List" in 2021.
It is reported that this monitoring also recorded the distribution of top carnivores with different habits such as snow leopards and jackals at the same site, fully demonstrating the extraordinary biodiversity of Nagqu, especially the rich species of prey.
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