Xinjiang plans to strongly enforce measures to protect its wild horses as tourism is expected to spike during the week-long National Day holiday.

According to the Management and Regulation for the Nature Reserves in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, anyone who violates the rules of the reserves will be fined between 100 and 5,000 yuan (US$13 and US$665).

"Reducing the contact between tourists and the wild horses is crucial to the animals maintaining their wild characteristics, and to avoiding infections spreading to the animals from the bacteria carried by tourists," said Zhang Hefan, engineer in Xinjiang Wild Horses Breeding and Research Center.

(China Daily September 28, 2007)