 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (August 2019) |
| Bhutan takin | |
|---|---|
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| Bhutan Takin, Jigme Dorji National Park | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Artiodactyla |
| Family: | Bovidae |
| Subfamily: | Caprinae |
| Tribe: | Caprini |
| Genus: | Budorcas |
| Species: | |
| Subspecies: | B. t. whitei
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| Trinomial name | |
| Budorcas taxicolor whitei Lydekker, 1907
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The Bhutan takin (Budorcas taxicolor whitei) is a subspecies of Takin native to Bhutan but also found in North Eastern India, Western part of China, and Tibet. Locally known as drong gimtse, it holds the honor of being Bhutan's national animal.
Takin have strongly featured in the popular Bhutan myth of divine cloning by the ‘Divine Madman’ Lam Drukpa Kunley, reinforcing the Takin’s cultural and religious significance in Bhutan.[1]
Being social creatures with a varied herbivorous diet, they thrive in the temperate and subtropical forests of eastern Asia. The species has been listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List since 2015.[2] It is protected in all range countries.
- ^ Wangchuk, Tashi (2004). A field guide to the mammals of Bhutan (1. publ ed.). Thimphu: Department of Forestry, Ministry of Agriculture, Royal Government of Bhutan. ISBN 9789993662006.
- ^ "Budorcas taxicolor". IUCN Red List.