The death of a viral Pallas’s cat in captivity has highlighted concerns about the protection of the species’ wild population and fragile desert habitat in China’s north-west.
On March 24, the Qinghai Wildlife Rescue and Breeding Center announced that Sun Shangxiang, a Pallas’s cat which had been popular on Chinese social media, passed away from an acute duodenal ulcer perforation. It had been rescued by the centre in 2019.
The species is notoriously difficult to tame and raise in captivity, and has poor immunity, noted Guangzhou Daily. In the Qinghai centre, the only facility in China to house Pallas’s cats, several have died in the last three years due to accidents and disease, the outlet reported.
China is home to over half of the world’s Pallas’s cat population. It is a nationally protected species and is listed as endangered on the country’s Biodiversity Red List.
Wild Pallas’s cat populations remain under threat. The species mainly inhabits high-altitude deserts and grasslands, with one of its key habitats being the Qilian Mountains in Zhangye, a desert region in north-west China.
Sun Quanhui, a scientist at the non-profit World Animal Protection, explained that the best way to ensure the Pallas’s cat’s survival is to preserve its natural habitats and minimise human interference in its ecosystems.
However, construction of wind farms in Zhangye may be contributing to a decline in local populations of the species, noted wildlife conservation non-profit Chinese Field Conservation Alliance. The organisation has for years been conducting Pallas’s cat surveys in the region.
According to government plans, Zhangye is set to become a major wind energy base, with more renewable energy projects planned. Such infrastructure could lead to fragmentation of habitats and the depletion of food resources, making it harder for wildlife to survive, Liu Jiliang, an associate professor at the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, told Caixin.
Liu also stressed that conservation efforts in the region require more funding as well as monitoring and research personnel. “Wind farm construction is progressing rapidly – faster than our ability to study its impact on wildlife,” he said.
Read Dialogue Earth’s previous analysis on China’s wildlife protection law.