Wild Yaks Making a Comeback in Remote Tibetan Plateau
Posted on January 17, 2013
American and Chinese conservationists from the Wildlife Conservation Society and University of Montana recently counted wild yaks in a remote region of the Tibetan-Qinghai Plateau. They counted more than 1,000 of the wild yaks, which is a sign the large creatures may be mounting a comeback. The Tibetan steppe was once dotted with wild yak, but they were decimated by overhunting in the mid 20th century. The yaks are crossing the Tibetan Plateau, near the edge of a glacier, in the above photo.
Joel Berger who led the expedition for WCS and the University of Montana, says, "Wild yaks are icons for the remote, untamed, high-elevation roof of the world. While polar bears represent a sad disclaimer for a warming Arctic, the recent count of almost 1000 wild yaks offers hope for the persistence of free-roaming large animals at the virtual limits of high-altitude wildlife."
The researchers say that very little is known about wild yak biology, including how often they reproduce, infant mortality rates, and the role wolves may play on population dynamics. They are believed to be about the size of bison, but wild yaks in the Tibetan-Qinghai Plateau are rarely weighed due their isolation.