Male Tibetan antelopes guard the female ones during their migration to their birth-giving ground in Qiangtang National Nature Reserve in southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region, June 12, 2024. (Xinhua/Tenzing Nima Qadhup)

XINING, May 4 (Xinhua) -- Pregnant Tibetan antelopes have begun their annual migration to the heart of northwest China's Hoh Xil National Nature Reserve to give birth, local sources with the reserve said Sunday.

The first group of 65 Tibetan antelopes was observed crossing the Qinghai-Xizang Highway on Sunday, heading toward Zonag Lake at the center of Hoh Xil.

According to the reserve's public security bureau, measures along the migration route, including temporary traffic control and a ban on honking, will be implemented to ensure the antelopes reach their breeding spots undisturbed.

Each year, tens of thousands of pregnant Tibetan antelopes start to migrate to Hoh Xil in May to give birth. They will return with their offspring around August.

Under first-class state protection in China, the once-endangered species is mostly found in Xizang Autonomous Region, Qinghai Province and Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

Due to strict bans on illegal hunting and efforts to improve their habitat, the Tibetan antelope population has rebounded from fewer than 20,000 in the late 1980s to more than 70,000 today.