The Overlapping Impact of Qinghai-Tibet Highway and Railway on Ungulates

Qinghai to Tibet highway (QTH) and railway (QTR) tracks are running parallel to each other with an in between distance of 0 to 2.5 km from Kunlunshankou to Wudaoliang sections which is about 107 km. An expressway will be built along these two lines in the near future to improve further accessibility between Qinghai and Tibet. Understanding the overlapping impact of QTH and QTR on ungulates will facilitates locating the route selection parameters for the proposed upcoming expressway. Using the procedures of field investigation along QTH during months of May, August and December in 2014 and 2015, we recorded the occurrence frequency, number of ungulates, and the perpendicular distance between QTH and QTR. To improve the protection mechanism for the four large ungulates voz., Tibetan antelope Pantholops hodgsonii, Tibetan gazelle Procapra picticaudata, Kiang Equus kiang) and Wild Yak Bus grunniens; we suggest that the distance between the proposed route for the expressway and the present highway and railway should at least be 1500m, and ideally, it should be 2500m.