China News Network Qinghai Tianjun, March 3 Title: Grassroots wildlife photographers in the "snow leopard's den": Not disturbing is the most basic principle

Written by Li Jun

"Hey, I'm in the 'snow leopard's den', what's going on?" In the afternoon, Cai Haiyong, a photographer born and raised in Tianjun County, Haixi Mongolian Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai Province, quipped to a friend on the phone.

Cai Haiyong explains: "Local herders often see snow leopards in the vicinity, and we speculate that there may be a snow leopard nest there, and I happened to be there to answer the phone. ”

The photographer of "Snow Leopard's Den" has thus become Cai Haiyong's favorite "title".

The picture shows Cai Haiyong photographing wildlife. Photo by Ma Mingyan

"I'm not a photographer, I'm a photography enthusiast." Speaking of the reason for the wildlife photography in early 2017, Cai Haiyong said modestly: "I thought it was very interesting to look at the photos taken by other photography teachers, so I learned to take a photo of a marmot fighting, and everyone said yes, and I 'drilled' in." ”

One camera, two lenses and a drone are all Cai Haiyong's "possessions" for photographing wild animals: "Teacher Li Yingping, who took me into the industry, told me that 'making pictures speak is good photos', so I think the equipment is not as good as others, so I have to suffer more hardships to make up for it." ”

Drinking spring water and eating dry food is common in daily photography, and sometimes squatting in one place for two or three days to photograph wild animals, maybe you can only see their shadows, and you can't take satisfactory photos.

"Once I went with my friend to Tianjun Ditch to photograph animals, and when we returned, we got scattered and reached a steep slope with no road ahead. It's almost dark when I go back, I can only go down the steep slope, and when there are still two or three meters left, it is a high platform, so I unfastened my belt and put the camera down first, and I found a place with thicker grass and jumped down. Cai Haiyong said, every time at this time, he would ask himself: "What are you drawing?" Can you eat or have money? ”

The picture shows Cai Haiyong on the way to shooting. Photo by Ma Mingyan

Over time, he found the answer to his own question: "The ecology is good, there are more and more wild animals, and it is very fulfilling to capture their wonderful pictures for more people to see, and hundreds of films have a good photo, I feel worthwhile!" ”

Tianjun Ditch in Tianjun County is the "snow leopard ditch" in the eyes of photographers, and it was there that Cai Haiyong first came into close contact with his "long-coveted" snow leopard.

In October 2017, Cai Haiyong and the photographer came to Tianjungou, and halfway through the camera, they stopped the car and silently filmed.

"He kept shooting, and asked him to shoot nothing." Cai Haiyong said that after the photographer told him that he was shooting the snow leopard, he also said disdainfully: "Bragging, the snow leopard is like a legend, how can it be photographed." ”

The picture shows two snow leopards in the same frame. Photo by Cai Haiyong

It wasn't until the snow leopard walked from the mountain beam to their car and then up another mountain that Cai Haiyong believed his words.

"I was so excited that I forgot everything, and I knew that when I pressed the shutter, the camera was about to smoke." He said that when he returned home, he found that of the five or six hundred photos taken on the computer, none of them could be seen, "so excited that my hands trembled, and all the pictures were empty, and I was so angry that I wanted to pump myself twice." ”

Many years ago, photographing snow leopards once a year was a "luxury" for photographers, but now it is common to photograph them three or four times a year, and wild animals such as bears, Tibetan foxes, black-necked cranes, and red deer are commonplace.

After insisting on shooting over the years, Cai Haiyong has also transformed from a photographer to a wildlife protector, and he has set himself a bottom line that cannot be crossed. "We will encounter beasts [when shooting], but they never take the initiative to attack us, as long as we don't move too much, don't disturb their normal life, they will give us the picture we want, so not disturbing them is the most basic principle of our photography." Cai Haiyong said.

Most of Tianjun County, Haixi Prefecture, Qinghai Province is located in the Qinghai area of Qilian Mountain National Park. Previously, many photographers shot in Tianjun County have frequently won awards internationally, and the "Oscar" of wildlife photography - the annual winner of the BBC British International Wildlife Photo Competition is also from Tianjun. Cai Haiyong's work "Rabbit Mother and Son" also won the Excellence Award in the Ecology category of the 2020rd Knight Awards International Photography Competition in <> organized by the European Photographic Society.

Ge Wenrong, president of Qilian Mountain Nature Conservation Association in Qinghai Province, said that the wildlife photos taken from Tianjun have won more than 30 awards in the natural ecology category in the world.

Relying on the unique geographical environment and wildlife resources, Zhihema Township, Tianjun County, is building an "international ecological photography town" and exploring the concession project of Qilian Mountain National Park.

Zhai Bin, deputy secretary of the Tianjun County Party Committee and deputy county magistrate, said that the ecological environment has undergone fundamental changes, which not only attracted the return of wild animals, but also attracted a large number of photographers to come to Tianjun to shoot and shoot. Today, Tianjun has become a "blessed land" for many photographers to shoot and create.

"I hope that more international photography masters will come to Tianjun and record our achievements in wildlife protection with their own lenses, and at the same time, I hope that more people can join in wildlife protection, so that we can truly achieve harmony between man and nature." Cai Haiyong said. (End)