Abstract
The wild yak Bos mutus was believed to be regionally extinct in Nepal for decades until our team documented two individuals from Upper Humla, north‐western Nepal, in 2014. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) seeks further evidence for the conclusive confirmation of that sighting. We conducted line transects and opportunistic sign surveys in the potential wild yak habitats of Humla, Dolpa, and Mustang districts between 2015 and 2017 and collected genetic samples (present and historic) of wild and domestic yaks Bos grunniens. We also sighted another wild yak in Upper Humla in 2015. Phylogenetic and haplotype network analyses based on mitochondrial D‐loop sequences (~450 bp) revealed that wild yaks in Humla share the haplotype with wild yaks from the north‐western region of the Qinghai‐Tibetan Plateau in China. While hybridization with domestic yaks is a major long‐term threat, illegal hunting for meat and trophy put the very small populations of wild yaks in Nepal at risk. Our study indicates that the unprotected habitat of Upper Humla is the last refuge for wild yaks in Nepal. We recommend wild yak conservation efforts in the country to focus on Upper Humla by (i) assigning a formal status of protected area to the region, (ii) raising awareness in the local communities for wild yak conservation, and (iii) providing support for adaptation of herding practice and pastureland use to ensure the viability of the population.
Highlights
The wild yak Bos mutus is globally listed as Vulnerable (VU) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red list (Buzzard & Berger, 2016)
We conducted field researches in Upper Humla, Upper Dolpa, and Upper Mustang, all located in the Transhimalayan belt of north- western Nepal, during the spring and summer seasons of 2015– 2017
The two dung piles of wild yak collected from two different locations (30.35707°N, 081.51979°E and 30.34817°N, 081.52723°E) within Upper Humla belonged to the same haplotype that was identical with a haplotype of wild yaks in north-western Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP)
Summary
The wild yak Bos mutus is globally listed as Vulnerable (VU) by the IUCN Red list (Buzzard & Berger, 2016). The herders and their domestic livestock threaten the wild yaks further through habitat encroachment and displacement (Harris, 2007), while the possibility of disease transmission between wild–domestic yak interfaces remains as a substantial threat (Buzzard & Berger, 2016; Schaller & Liu, 1996). The mitochondrial D-loop or control region has been widely used for investigating intraspecific genetic variation, population structure, and demographic histories of animal domestication (Beja-pereira et al, 2004; Guo et al, 2006; Jansen et al, 2002; Lai et al, 2007; Larson et al, 2005; Luikart et al, 2001; Troy et al, 2001; Wolf, 1999). The presence of reference dataset (about wild versus domestic haplotypes) allows us to utilize the mitochondrial D-loop data to study phylogeographic patterns and domestication histories
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