To understand why Procapra przewalskii does not show the same white myopathy as sheep in Se-deficient regions and to provide reference for feeding nutrition level of artificial population and selection of wild reintroduction areas in the later period, a Se-deficient model was established. The mineral elements content, physiological and biochemical parameters in blood and serum metabonomics were determined. In the Se-deficient group compared with the control group, the Se content was highly significantly lower (P < 0·01), and the Cu content was significantly higher (P < 0·05). The activity of glutathione peroxidase was significantly lower (P < 0·05), but total superoxide dismutase was significantly higher (P < 0·05). By matching the mass spectrum data of compounds with the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG database), eighty-six types of differential metabolites in the serum were identified. The main metabolic pathways included secondary bile acid biosynthesis, biosynthesis of unsaturated fatty acids and pyrimidine metabolism. Further analysis showed that there were seven different metabolites in pyrimidine metabolism pathway between the two groups. And there was no significant difference in erythrocyte, Hb and total antioxidant capacity between the two groups (P > 0·05). The above results showed that the differential metabolism of substances exhibited complementary functions, thus alleviating some adverse effects and resulting normal activities of P. przewalskii can be carried out under the condition of dietary Se content lower than 0·05 mg/kg.

In 2008 Przewalski's gazelle Procapra przewalskii, endemic to the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau, China, was recategorized from Critically Endangered to Endangered on the IUCN Red List. The species is still, however, threatened, and the human population and accompanying domestic livestock are increasing around Qinghai Lake. Here we provide up-to-date information on the distribution and population size of the species, evaluate its current conservation status and discuss the difficulties of protecting this gazelle species. We used both distance sampling and total counts to survey 16 sites where the species has been reported and found it at 13 of these, occupying a total area of c. 250 km2. Population size estimated from distance sampling (1,635) and total counts (1,544) was similar. About 20% of the gazelles located were in newly discovered areas for the species. The results indicate an overall growth in the population of Przewalski's gazelle since 2003, although some subpopulations have declined or been extirpated. In spite of conservation efforts Przewalski's gazelle is still threatened by habitat degradation and loss, habitat fragmentation, fencing, intensified competition with domestic livestock and predation. Further growth of this gazelle population is constrained by limited habitat availability and human–gazelle conflict. We recommend that management and conservation strategies need to incorporate comprehensive knowledge of the gazelle, long-term monitoring, and captive breeding of injured and orphaned gazelles to form a potential pool of individuals for future reintroductions to the historical range of the species outside the Qinghai Lake basin.