Although the population of Przewalski’s gazelle (Procapra przewalskii) has increased, this species is still threatened by a variety of risk factors, such as habitat loss and fragmentation, grassland fencing, grazing conflict, the segmentation of different populations, and declines in population genetic diversity. In order to determine the potential suitable habitat of Przewalski’s gazelle and find a new suitable location for its conservation translocation, we used the MaxEnt model to predict the suitable habitats in Qinghai Province, Gansu Province, and the Ordos Plateau in Inner Mongolia and other regions with historical distribution records. On the basis of the MaxEnt model’s prediction of the potential suitable habitat of Przewalski’s gazelle, we used GAP analysis to determine the existing protection gaps and provide a new reference for the future protection of Przewalski’s gazelle. We found that altitude, temperature, vegetation type, and distance from roads were the main environmental factors affecting the geographical distribution of Przewalski’s gazelle. Most of the suitable habitat of Przewalski’s gazelle is confined around Qinghai Lake. GAP analysis revealed that most of the suitable habitats of Przewalski’s gazelle are not included in the established reserves, and Qinghai Lake National Nature Reserve only covers a small area around Qinghai Lake. The whole reserve only accounts for 7.11% of the area of the suitable habitat for Przewalski’s gazelle and 15.79% of the area of the highly suitable habitat for Przewalski’s gazelle. We suggest that conservation translocation for Przewalski’s gazelle should be put on the agenda. It is necessary to consider reintroducing these gazelles into their potential suitable habitats as a feasible way of establishing new populations and saving this species.

Dinerstein and colleagues (2007) urged in BioScience that action be taken to ensure the protection of wild tigers (Panthera tigris). We agree that this is necessary, but unlike Dinerstein and L colleagues, we believe that captive breeding is part of the answer.

As the most widely distributed snake in Eurasia, the adder (Vipera berus) has been extensively investigated in Europe but poorly understood in Asia. The Southern Altay Mountains represent the adder’s southern distribution limit in Central Asia, whereas its population status has never been assessed. We conducted, for the first time, field surveys for the adder at two areas of Southern Altay Mountains using a combination of line transects and random searches. We also described the morphological characteristics of the collected specimens and conducted analyses of external morphology and molecular phylogeny. The results showed that the adder distributed in both survey sites and we recorded a total of 34 sightings. In Kanas river valley, the estimated encounter rate over a total of 137 km transects was 0.15 ± 0.05 sightings/km. The occurrence of melanism was only 17%. The small size was typical for the adders in Southern Altay Mountains in contrast to other geographic populations of the nominate subspecies. A phylogenetic tree obtained by Bayesian Inference based on DNA sequences of the mitochondrial cytochromeb(1,023 bp) grouped them within the Northern clade of the species but failed to separate them from the subspeciesV. b. sachalinensis. Our discovery extends the distribution range ofV. berusand provides a basis for further researches. We discuss the hypothesis that the adder expands its distribution border to the southwest along the mountains’ elevation gradient, but the population abundance declines gradually due to a drying climate.

The vocal display of male animals during the breeding season has received particular attention. To find out whether male acoustic signals could be a quality-assessment cue of callers, we conducted a study on Père David’s deer (Elaphurus davidianus) characterised by a polygynous mating system and high male–male competition during the rutting season. We investigated the relationship between the stag’s acoustic properties and the dominance rank as an indication of quality. Results showed that (1) there were two types of calls, the common roar and the chasing bark, (2) there was no significant difference between the call duration of the common roar and the chasing bark among different dominance ranks, (3) in the common roar, the value of the fundamental frequency, formant frequencies and formant spacing decreased significantly with the rise of dominance ranks and (4) vocal intensity of the common roar differed significantly among the three dominance ranks such as the harem master, the challengers and the bachelors. Our results suggested that some acoustic features, such as formant frequencies, formant spacing and vocal intensity of the common roar were closely related to the dominance rank and could be effective indicators of male competitive ability.