DISTRIBUTION, STATUS, AND CONSERVATION OF WILD YAK BOS GRUNNIENS

Wild yaks Bos grunniens survive only on the Tibetan Plateau where they have declined greatly in range and numbers during the past century be cause of excessive hunting. Wildlife surveys on the Plateau between 19 84 and 1994 revealed that yaks per sist in several small populations a nd in one large tract of alpine steppe and alpine desert, mostly above 4500 m in elevation, which extends over about 400,000 km(2) primarily in the Tibet Autonomous Region. The Chang Tang Reserve, 284,000 km(2) in size, covers a substantial part of this area and contains an estim ated 7000-7500 yaks, a third of these in two relatively small areas. T he number of wild yaks probably totals around 15,000. Meat hunting, en croachment by pastoralists into the last strongholds, and hybridizatio n between domestic and wild yaks are among the dangers confronting the animals. Only lar ge protected tracts of wilderness as in the norther n Chang Tang Reserve can provide wild yaks with a future.