Antelope guardian kicks off Qinghai relay

The first leg of the three-day torch relay in Qinghai province got under way yesterday in Golmud, the source of some of the key symbols of the Games - jade used in the Olympic medals and the animal that inspired one of the five mascots.

Yesterday's torch relay started at 9.15am from Salt Lake Square, with the first stretch run by Cega, known locally as the patron saint of the Tibetan antelope. The antelope, or chiru, is an endangered species native to Tibet and Qinghai.

Cega, 56, is a Tibetan who served in the cavalry when he was young and went on to head the county paramilitary forces. He has been the director of the Hoh Xil Nature Reserve Administration, home of the chiru, since 1998.

For 10 years, Cega and his men have fought armed poachers across snow-capped mountains and scorching deserts. Some of his men have been killed in the skirmishes.

The hardship and sacrifice seem to have paid off, however. The number of chiru in Hoh Xil has rebounded to nearly 60,000 from less than 20,000 in 1998.

'Under the joint efforts of the government, the public, mass media and volunteers, the sound of shots from the poachers' guns has become distant. I hope this sound can disappear completely from China and the whole world,' Cega said.

Because of his special love of the chiru, he proposed the animal be used as a model for an Olympics mascot. Now Yingying the cartoon mascot represents all track-and-field events in the Games.