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Across the Big Open: On Foot with the
Endangered Tibetan "Chiru"
The 2004 Banff Mountain Book Festival is proud to present Rick Ridgeway
and Conrad Anker who will recount their journey through Tibet’s Chang Tang region, in search of the birthing grounds of the Tibetan
chiru.
The chiru are an endangered species of antelope whose daily
existence in the Tibetan Chang Tang is threatened by weather,
predators, and–worst of all–poachers. George Schaller of the
Wildlife Conservation Society has been studying the species for
15 years, but has been unable to gather information on the most
important element to its survival–the chirus’ calving grounds.
Inspired by Schaller’s work, climber, photographer, writer, and
award-winning filmmaker Rick Ridgeway led a group of
accomplished climbers through what he describes as his most
fulfilling trip yet. The team–made up of renowned climber Conrad
Anker, photographer Jimmy Chin, and mountaineering photographer
Galen Rowell–journeyed through the remote area in an attempt to
save these creatures from an untimely extinction.
As Ridgeway and his colleagues concluded the near 300-mile trek,
they realized a success that has eluded others traveling the
Chang Tang with similar hopes, making this the first successful
mission of its kind. These expert climbers hope that the finding
and protection of the birthing grounds will ensure the species’
future.
Sadly, this was to be Galen Rowell’s final assignment. Shortly
after the expedition, he and his wife Barbara were killed in a
light-plane crash while flying over California.
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