Dozens of white yaks frolicked in the pristine snow of the vast Kyrgyz mountains, butting heads and locking horns as their herders watched on from their horses.
The Akmatov family have been breeding their variety of the cattle -- which normally have dark-brown hair -- for the past 15 years, and see their growing flock as a symbol of the white yak's revival in a country plagued by climate woes.
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