Thousands of Yak Calves Spared in Tibetan Life-Saving Drive/ENG

2016. május 13./RFA/TibetPress

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Working across three of China’s westernmost provinces, Tibetan villagers and monks have banded together to save the lives of thousands of yak calves otherwise fated to be killed, sources in the region say.

This year’s drive, which was launched on May 7 and is the seventh to be held since the campaign began, has so far rescued almost 3,000 calves, a Tibetan living in Gansu province told RFA’s Tibetan Service.

“This year, the Open Benevolent Association of Southern Kanlho [in Chinese, Gannan] Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture saved the lives of 2,840 calves on the occasion of Saga Dawa, a special month for Buddhists,” RFA’s source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Participants in the campaign came not only from Gansu but from neighboring Qinghai and Sichuan, the source said.

“In the last seven years, Tibetans have participated with increasing enthusiasm, and the campaign has gained momentum and spread into Tibetan-populated areas in the three provinces,” he said.

“Over 20 monasteries are extending their support and cooperation, with several monks becoming participating members in the campaign,” he said.

“The number of members of the organizing committee has now also increased to 120.”

The rescued calves, which had been marked for slaughter by their owners in order to conserve their mothers’ milk for human use, are now being taken in small groups to Tibetan monasteries and villages to live out their lives under protection, the source said.

The practice of saving lives, called tsethar in Tibetan, is common among Buddhists, who believe that sparing the lives of animals will generate merit that can improve future rebirths for the one performing the act.

Saving the lives of animals destined for slaughter is especially recommended by Tibetan religious teachers as a beneficial form of spiritual practice.

Reported by Lhuboom for RFA’s Tibetan Service. Translated by Karma Dorjee. Written in English by Richard Finney.