ED 1402 CLASSROOM ACTIVITY – MOVIE SCREENING “KEKEXILI MOUNTAIN PATROL“.
DATE: 31ST AUGUST 2009
VENUE: SHBIE ROOM 1.49
Basically the story was about the passion of Tibetan bravesmen who face death and starvation to save the endangered antelopes herds from a band of ruthless hunter in the region of Kekexili. Kekexili was the largest animal reserve in China. The antelopes were hunted for its skin, used in making luxurious scarves, as well as its fur to make wools and quilt. They were also prized for its horn which is believed to have some values in Chinese traditional medicines and magical powers.
From this movie I could learn so many things happen around us at the same time while we were here busy with our wealth. On the other part of the world, there happened to be some groups or nation that are living desperately and could do anything to get their stomach filled. In this case, the Tibetan were living in a tundra land. There were treeless region, and the plateau was surrounded by towering mountain ranges. Compared to Brunei, tundra ecosystem was a very inhospitable environment, with cold climate and high altitudes.
The harsh climate in tundra area gives an impact to the Tibetan society. The grassland had turned to be a desert and due to that human activity was almost restricted. Shepherds were no longer raising animals and farmers were no longer to be seen harvesting their farmland because it was too cold and dry to support vegetation. As a result, there was a shortage of food and water supply for the people. Their living condition was also worsen by having no money and no jobs so they could hardly survive.
The deterioration has really affected the people living in that area. Due to the living hardship, they ended up sacrificing China’s own reserves by hunting the antelopes in order to make money. They shoot them, hunt for its skin and horns and sold them locally and abroad. This illegal poaching was the only solution to them even though they realized that this act was not right. But there was no policy made in that country to stop them from this illegal hunting. The antelopes were hunted nearly to extinction and it was estimated that there was 10,000 antelope’s carcasses founded each year. This lead to the dwindling population of these species in China drastically.
Saiga’s Antelopes

In this movie there was a group of local Tibetans who’s trying to combat the illegal poaching by trekking the hunters down. The patrol undergoes threatening life and death struggles during the journey. I could learned from the strong brotherly bond between the patrolmen. They patrol whilst at the same time they also sang and feast together. Sadness was felt when one of their members was shot to death and when they buried and burned the antelope’s bones to ashes. A prayer is said as they burn the remains with the same respect shown to one of their own.
As the patrol proceeds, they had to face strong winds, heavy blowing snow, sandstorms, quick sands, lack of food and fuel, but in the end, they couldn’t even arrest the killers. They only had the authorities to stop, confiscate and fine the bad people but they were not even officially employed by the government. There was hardly any policy to conserve the environment and preserve the nature’s ecosystems which relates to the economy of the people living in that areas.