Expedition 🇨🇳 China
Yak in China
The shaggy giant of the roof of the world — a high-altitude bovine that carries life across the Tibetan Plateau.
The species
The domestic yak has been the backbone of Himalayan and Tibetan life for thousands of years — providing milk, meat, fibre, and transport above 4,000 metres where cattle cannot survive. Long-haired, sure-footed, and placid, yaks graze alpine meadows that would kill lesser animals from cold and thin air.
Habitat in China
Alpine grassland and high plateau above 3,000 metres in Tibet, Qinghai, Nepal, and Bhutan suit yaks. They withstand temperatures below minus 40°C and graze sparse vegetation where oxygen is half what it is at sea level.
Where to spot one
Chengdu Panda Base
Sichuan
The world's best-known panda research and breeding centre — bamboo groves full of black-and-white bears.
Wolong National Nature Reserve
Sichuan
Mountain bamboo forest in the Minshan range — one of the first and most important wild panda reserves.
Foping National Nature Reserve
Shaanxi
Qinling Mountains forest — giant pandas and golden snub-nosed monkeys in temperate bamboo habitat.
Zhangjiajie National Forest Park
Hunan
Towering sandstone pillars draped in mist — home to macaques, civets, and rare forest birds.
Conservation status
Domestic yaks are abundant across the Himalaya. Wild yaks are Vulnerable, with fewer than 10,000 remaining on the Tibetan Plateau due to hunting and hybridisation with domestic stock.
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Log the Yak in China
Spot one in the wild — scan it in Catch'Um to log your common discovery.