Tibetan gazelles Goa or Go ba (Procapra picticaudata)

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The Goa (Procapra picticaudata), also known as the Tibetan Gazelle, is a species of antelope that inhabits the Tibetan plateau. A typical goa stands about two feet (60cm) tall at the shoulder and weighs about 15kg. Males have long, tapering, ridged horns, reaching lengths of up to 14 inches (35cm). Females have no horns; neither have distinct facial markings. They are grayish brown in colour, with a short, black-tipped tail in the center of a heart-shaped white rump-patch. The thin and long legs of this elegant animal enhance its running skill, which is required to escape from predators. Mating season is in December, with young born the following May.

Both Tibetans and foreigners have observed the disappearance of wildlife native to Tibet. The first Western visitors to the country frequently commented on the extent and variety of Tibetan wildlife. Some of this wildlife, such as the wild yak, snow leopard, black-necked crane, Tibetan antelope and Tibetan gazelle, is unique to Tibet or the Himalayan region.

In keeping with Buddhist tradition, little of Tibet's wildlife population was exploited by native hunters. Over the last 40 years, however, Chinese soldiers and settlers, as well as economically deprived Tibetans, have intensively hunted much of Tibet's wildlife to supply China's extensive market with meat and animal products. In addition to supplying routin! e demand s by Chinese settlers in Tibet, hunters target some of the more exotic species for export - blue sheep for the German meat market and Tibetan antelope for their wool. China continues to offer some of Tibet's more spectacular wildlife, such as the argali sheep, to foreign trophy hunters, in spite of international efforts to protect these species. According to data compiled by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, 30 of Tibet's 500 bird and 188 of its animal species are rare or endangered.
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