The golden takin lives in the Qinling Mountains of central China. Adult males have long, shaggy coats ranging from creamy white to golden yellow, with especially golden hair on the neck and chest.
HMW describes adult males as shaggy and creamy white to golden yellow, with distinctly golden hair on the neck and chest. Golden takins usually have black hair on the muzzle, knees, hocks, and tail.
Golden takins occur in diverse mountain vegetation at 1,300–2,800 m. HMW lists mixed coniferous and broadleaf forest, subalpine conifer forest, and subalpine meadows by elevation; they feed mainly on browse, including twigs, shoots, stems, leaves, and bark.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.