Twelve rescued Tibetan wild asses have been returned to the wild in the Hoh Xil Nature Reserve, northwest China, according to the administration of the state nature reserve.

Like the Tibetan antelope, the Tibetan wild ass is also rare on the Tibetan Plateau and a priority on the list of animals under state protection.

To protect the endangered animal species from extinction, the Chinese government has set up three nature reserves on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau including one at Hoh Xil.

At the end of 2003, zoologists with the Hoh Xil Tibetan Antelope Rescue Center in the nature reserve found a baby Tibetan wild ass with wolf bites and brought it back to the rescue center, where it received vet treatment and intensive care. That was the first Tibetan wild ass the center rescued.

By February 2004, the center had rescued five grown Tibetan wild asses and another six foals. They were injured by wolf bites or from highway accidents.

After a six-day effort, researchers at the rescue center successfully returned all 12 asses to the wild earlier this month.