Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
9
C
HINESE
W
ILDLIFE
S
CIENCE
The key element in [the evolution of science]—and perhaps the most important single by-
product of the scientific revolution—was the institutionalization of an ethos of skepticism,
born of inductive methodology, which led scientists to question, as a matter of course, the
validity of any and all a priori assumptions, dogmas, and received theories. The virtual
absence of such an ethos is a striking feature of Chinese culture.
—Richard Baum
I know that the papers I published earlier have serious flaws. Now that I've graduated but
am still working on this species, I think I can do better. But, you know, as my professor
reminded me, I had to publish to get my degree.
—Young Chinese wildlife scientist
Snow leopards, emblematic of the wild mountains of the Tibetan Plateau and central
Asia, are among the most charismatic species in all of western China. They are also,
without doubt, among the most difficult to study or monitor. As top-level predators, they
are naturally rare; because they live in precipitous and alpine terrain, spending time in
their habitat is costly and difficult for humans; and because they are cryptically colored
and depend on stealth for their survival, observing them in the wild is a rarity. Thus, bi-
ologists have only been able to take a peek at their lives, and conservationists have only
rudimentary, indirect, and crude methods to estimate their abundance and trend; hence a
mere handful of scientific studies have been accomplished.
I was thus somewhat surprised, a few years back, to encounter a Ph.D. student with
plans (and just a bit of funding) to “study snow leopards” in the Kunlun Mountains where
I was working. Given the inevitable logistical, funding, and time constraints I knew he
would face, I asked him what aspect of snow leopard ecology he planned to focus on. His
response was quite general: distribution, abundance, food habits, habitat selection. When
I urged him to narrow his focus, to perhaps concentrate on testing a method of detecting
free-ranging snow leopards—admittedly only a piece of the puzzle, but at least a piece
clearly relevant to its conservation—he agreed that doing so probably made sense, but
explained that the principal funding agency in Beijing would never agree. Because such
a study would, even at best, constitute only a building block for other work, the graduate
student believed, it would be viewed as insufficiently consequential to merit support.
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