In a remote corner of the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau, a new four-legged species has quietly joined the ranks of Tibetan antelope on the Hoh Xil National Nature Reserve — mingling with the wild herds, and their new summer calves, without so much as a glance from its adopted family.

But unlike them, this “animal” isn’t here to graze or give birth — its only need is the occasional change of battery. Meet China’s latest tool in conservation: the first robot antelope, stationed deep in the Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Qinghai province, nearly 5,000 meters above sea level.

The robot’s lifelike exoskeleton means that, compared to human researchers, it can easily infiltrate and monitor the calving grounds of the growing number of Tibetan antelope that call one of the world’s highest and most remote nature reserves home.

Listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2017, the cold, oxygen-thin wilderness of Hoh Xil is a major migration route for several species. Between May to August, for example, Tibetan antelopes from the Sanjiangyuan National Nature Reserve in Qinghai, the Qiangtang Nature Reserve in the western Xizang Autonomous Region, and the Altun Mountains National Nature Reserve in the northwestern Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region migrate to Hoh Xil’s Zhuonai Lake to give birth — earning it the nickname of the species’ “delivery room.”

It’s for this reason that researchers from Deep Robotics, headquartered in the eastern city of Hangzhou, settled on Hoh Xil to conduct trials for their new robot. Built using the company’s dog-like Jueying X30 platform as a base — billed by them as the industry’s first quadruped robot capable of operating in extreme environments — additional cameras, sensors, and remote-control equipment were fitted, allowing for operation of the “robot antelope” from up to two kilometers away.

To achieve a realistic appearance, designers began by building a frame that mimicked the Tibetan antelope’s skeletal structure and used reference photos of real antelope fur provided by the nature reserve’s staff. Finally, they overhauled the entire design to make a refined second robot.

In a video from the trials, the robot is seen smoothly handling the two-kilometer trek from the research base to the herd via bumpy mountain roads and muddy wetlands. Once there, antelopes can be seen to momentarily stop grazing to inspect the newcomer. Though cautious by nature, they show only curiosity, allowing the imposter to blend seamlessly into the herd and enabling close-range recording of video, sound, and other data.

Previously hunted extensively for its fine underfur used in luxury shahtoosh shawls, the Tibetan antelope population fell to below 70,000 by the 1990s. Anti-poaching patrols, protected areas, and stricter laws have since spurred a recovery, and the species is now listed as “near threatened” — the sixth least severe rating of nine — by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, with over 300,000 believed to roam the plateau today.

Speaking to the state-run news agency Xinhua, Chöpel Tashi, head of the Law Enforcement and Supervision Section at the Hoh Xil Management Office of Sanjiangyuan National Park, said that the growing use of robots, AI, and other technologies is making ecological protection more efficient, eco-friendly, and humane.

In recent years, Hoh Xil’s uninhabited zone has been used as a testing ground for a wave of tech-driven conservation projects, from a “mobile sentinel” program, using an elevated camera to track migration routes, to this latest “robot antelope.” Such efforts have helped populations of wild yak, black-necked cranes, snow leopards, argali, and blue sheep to rebound in the region in recent years.

“This exploration might fail, but it could also succeed. Success would be a huge payoff, but failure also helps us gain experience,” Lian Xinming, researcher at the Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, also speaking to Xinhua. “Ultimately, our goal is to ensure the smooth migration of Tibetan antelopes in the future.”

Editor: Tom Arnstein.

(Header image: The Tibetan antelope robot in the Hoh Xil National Nature Reserve, Qinghai province, July 2025. Xinhua)