InXizang | Cloning efforts help save rare Zhangmu cattle breed in Xizang
Source: Xinhua
Editor: huaxia
2025-12-04 21:05:15
A cloned Zhangmu calf is seen at the Qushui experiment station of the regional-level animal disease prevention and control center in Lhasa, southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region, Dec. 3, 2025. (Xinhua/Tenzin Nyida)
LHASA, Dec. 4 (Xinhua) --The Zhangmu is a rare yellow cattle breed native to the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau.
According to the third national survey of livestock and poultry genetic resources conducted in 2021, there were just 19 heads of Zhangmu cattle in Xizang's Xigaze City.
To urgently bring these animals back from the brink of extinction, relevant departments and local authorities in China established a working group to protect the existing cattle, preserve their somatic cells, and make clones to increase their population.
The cloned female Zhangmu calf was born in May. It has now survived for nearly seven months in good health.
Thanks to the cloning technology and multiple conservation measures, the population of Zhangmu cattle has increased to 37.
This aerial drone photo taken on Dec. 3, 2025 shows the Qushui experiment station of the regional-level animal disease prevention and control center in Lhasa, southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region. (Xinhua/Tenzin Nyida)Two staff members examine a cloned Zhangmu calf at the Qushui experiment station of the regional-level animal disease prevention and control center in Lhasa, southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region, Dec. 3, 2025. (Xinhua/Tenzin Nyida)A staff member feeds the cloned Zhangmu calf (R) at the Qushui experiment station of the regional-level animal disease prevention and control center in Lhasa, southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region, Dec. 3, 2025. (Xinhua/Tenzin Nyida)A cloned Zhangmu calf forages at the Qushui experiment station of the regional-level animal disease prevention and control center in Lhasa, southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region, Dec. 3, 2025. (Xinhua/Tenzin Nyida)A staff member checks the eyelids of a cloned Zhangmu calf at the Qushui experiment station of the regional-level animal disease prevention and control center in Lhasa, southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region, Dec. 3, 2025. (Xinhua/Tenzin Nyida)A cloned Zhangmu calf (R) is seen at the Qushui experiment station of the regional-level animal disease prevention and control center in Lhasa, southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region, Dec. 3, 2025. (Xinhua/Tenzin Nyida)■
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