Protecting wild yak (Bos mutus) species and preventing its hybrid in China

Abstract

China has made efforts to protect wild yak (Bos mutus) species and prevent the hybrids between wild yak and domestic yak (Bos grunniens) species. At present, wild yak population of a reasonable estimate would be over 70,000. Due to conservation efforts in environmental protection and ecological construction such as the Wildlife Protection and Nature Reserve Construction Project, the “Grain-for-Green” Project and the Natural Forest Resources Protection Project, the number of wild yaks is increasing. In general, Tibetan Plateau’s ecosystem is getting better and its environmental quality shows a gradual improving trend. Tibetan Plateau is one of the world’s cleanest regions called as the “Third Pole”. In order to preserve the genetic pool of wild yaks, local pastoralists and polices drive off the wild male yaks from the domestic yak herds by making noise (banging washbasins, pots, etc.) or driving cars. Local government also incentivizes the culling of domestic yaks found in wild herds. For the sake of the biological and genetic features of this wild species, and the pastoralist way of life, wild yaks should continuously be protected to keep their genetic integrity. We appeal plans to investigate the gene pollution of wild yaks in some important distribution regions of this species. In the face of hybridizing with domestic yaks, proper guidance is urgently needed to address genetic pollution and protect the genetic integrity of wild yaks.