Motithang Takin Preserve — where a visitor meets the takin, Bhutan's strange and beloved national animal.

Frequently asked

What is a takin?

The national animal of Bhutan — a large, stocky goat-antelope of the high Himalaya (Budorcas taxicolor), with a humped nose, shaggy coat, and a heavy body built for steep alpine slopes. It is one of the more unusual large mammals in the world, and the Bhutanese hold it in great affection, partly through the legend that the 'divine madman' Drukpa Kunley created it from a goat's head and a cow's bones.

Why are the takin kept in a preserve and not a zoo?

Because Bhutan judged that caging wild animals did not befit a Buddhist country and disbanded its small zoo, releasing the animals. The takin, tame and content, wandered into the streets of Thimphu instead of leaving — so a stretch of their own Motithang forest was fenced as a protected reserve where they could live naturally and visitors could still see them. It is a very Bhutanese solution.

Will I definitely see a takin?

Almost always, though they roam a genuine forest reserve rather than a small enclosure, so a sighting takes a little patience and timing. The walking path runs along the fence through the pines, and the matched guide knows the spots and times — mornings and late afternoons — where the herd is most often in view.