Two suspects, Sha Hai and Yan Zhaocai, have been arrested and a gun, 4,000 bullets, two jeeps and 1.2 tons of petrol were confiscated, said Cai Ga, the bureau's director.

But two other suspects are still at large, said Cai, adding that the search will continue.

On Monday, one of the bureau's patrol teams found two suspicious vehicles in an area east of Kusai Lake and decided to follow them.

When they reached Yeniugou, Sha Hai and another poacher intentionally drove one of the jeeps down a cliff, and both escaped.

Yan Zhaocai and Wu Hai, who were in another jeep, were apprehended at the site, but Wu escaped while being transported to the bureau.

Forest guards were soon organized to search along the nearby routes. "Our team walked for an average 30 kilometers and we finally caught Sha Hai in the wee hours of Tuesday," said Cai.

Sha managed to escape at 8 am while the majority of the bureau's staff joined a search for the remaining suspects, but he was eventually caught after local police joined in the hunt for the poachers.

The poachers had planned to hunt for the Tibetan antelopes on October 6, but gave up after spotting the bureau's patrol team.

At present, a seven-person patrol team equipped with two vehicles and five guns continues to search for antelope poachers deep within the Hoh Xil Nature Reserve, where the temperature is 40 C below zero, Cai said.

(China Daily December 13, 2001)