Image by Tanpa Dhakal via Nepali Times, used with permission. This story was originally published by Tanka Dhakal at the Nepali Times. An edited version is republished below as part of a content-sharing agreement. Yaks, which used to be the mainstay of the culture of Himalayan communities in Nepal, have been in steady decline because of lifestyle changes, human outmigration, inbreeding, and the impact of the climate crisis. The National Agricultural Census shows that the total number of yaks in Nepal went down from 53,000 to 48,000 over the past three years. There are now fewer than 10,000 hou…