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Since 1985 Schaller and his Chinese and Tibetan co-workers have surveyed the flora and fauna of the Chang Tang, the vast remote Tibetan steppe that is home to a unique assemblage of large mammals, including the Tibetan antelope, gazelle, argali sheep, wild ass, wild yak, wolves, and snow leopards. Although 1997's fine Tibet's Hidden Wilderness gave a general coffee-table style introduction to what is now a 130,000 square mile reserve, this is the first detailed look at the natural history of one of the world's least known ecosystems.
The plains ungulates are the main focus of the book - especially the Tibetan antelope, or chiru, whose migrations define the ecosystem much as those of the wildebeest define the Serengeti. Schaller's descriptions of mammal numbers and distribution, behaviour, and ecology provide baseline information that may allow wildlife, grasslands, and pastoralists to continue to coexist harmoniously in this region.