The number of wild yaks has increased by 3,000 to around 12,000 over a decade at a nature reserve in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, according to a latest research released on Sunday.

With the introduction of the fourth scientific expedition at the reserve, monitoring wildlife overwintering in the protected area has also been officially launched.

The researchers made some new discoveries during this year's monitoring. The wild yaks which used to be concentrated in large numbers in winter, are evenly dispersed.

So far, there is little snow in the Altun Mountain National Nature Reserve, and preliminary observation shows that grass and drinking points are evenly distributed. 

Some females are already pregnant, and this season observations show that female wild yaks are gentler, while male wild yaks are more violent, defensive and aggressive than usual.

Wild yak is listed as vulnerable on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species and is under China's first-class national protection.

(Cover image via VCG)

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