Scientists clone yaks on Tibetan plateau

On the high plateaus of Tibet, surrounded by snow-capped mountains and harsh winds, scientists are diligently working on creating horned, fluffy yak clones.

These Tibetan yaks are engineered and cloned in secret laboratories over 4,000 meters above sea level, where researchers hope to form an elite herd of super-yaks, healthier and more fertile than their predecessors, reports CNN.

This project, as researchers expect, could potentially even revive a wild subspecies that local Tibetans revere as the earth god’s favourite.

The wild and domesticated yak worlds are economically and culturally important to the region. But both subspecies have faced threats for years, and some rare subspecies are endangered.

Regional authorities in southwest China have invested tens of millions of dollars in developing the yak industry �" and hope that cloning can help.

The first yak clone appeared in July 2025; state media in China called it a breakthrough that combined cloning with genetic selection. This spring, even more clones were born �" and researchers now aim to create a herd of more than 100 “elite” yak clones by 2028, with expected traits such as faster growth and larger size.

“This shows the technology has moved from a one-time success to a stable, mass-scale application,” said Fang Shengguo, the project’s scientific lead and director of the State Conservation Center for Gene Resources of Endangered Wildlife, according to state-run news agency Xinhua.

However the Tibet government-supported project raises concerns among international observers. Cloning remains extremely controversial, especially given the recent “de-extinction” initiatives that have drawn global attention to reviving long-extinct species.