Ordinary Tibetan farmers and herdsmen have played a positive role in protecting wild animals in the Co Nyi area of Nagqu Prefecture in northern Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR).

Konjo, 56 years old, is an ordinary herdsman from Duoma Village in Nagqu, who keeps 300 sheep and 400 goats. He became a member of the patrol team three years ago and obtained an annual subsidy of 3,000 yuan from the government in return.

He said it took him 60 days every year to patrol around the Co Nyi area traveling at least 3,000 kilometers. His main job is to detect and stop the illegal hunting in time, and to help the injured or sick animals to receive proper medical treatment.

Earlier this month, the local government of Nagqu provided each patroller with a motorcycle to improve the efficiency with a certain amount of fuel subsidy varied by the distance they have traveled.

According to Ageng, vice director of the Co Nyi area, people are now living in harmony with wild animals thanks to of local people's enhanced awareness of wildlife protection.

Moreover, the local people have actively made contributions to the protection of wild animals. The patrol teams have been efficiently organized throughout the 31 administrative villages in 6 townships of Co Nyi area since 2005.

Located in the northwest of Nagqu at an elevation of around 5,000 meters, the Co Nyi area covers 116,700 square meters with a population of more than 10,000 people. It lies in the hinterland of the famous Changtang State Nature Reserve, the second largest nature reserve in China.

Thanks to the effective protective measures, both the quantity and number of species of wild animals in the reserve area have significantly increased since it was set up in 2000. More than 100 kinds of wild animals are included under first-grade and second-grade state protection, such as Tibetan antelopes, wild Tibetan yak, argalis, etc.

With the growing population and frequent activities, wild animals also have caused damages to the property and crops of the farmers and herdsmen in the reserve area.

In 2006, the regional government  took some measures to provide compensation to the victims whose properties were harmed by wild animals. And in 2009 alone, the total indemnification in Nagqu reportedly hit up to 10 million yuan (1.47 million U.S. dollars).