KUNMING, Nov. 4 (Xinhua) -- A wild Himalayan yew tree, believed to be over 1,000 years old, was discovered in southwest China's Yunnan Province, according to local authorities.

The living tree is located in the Fengqing area of the Lancang River nature reserve in Lincang City. It is about 12 meters tall and has a trunk diameter of 1.32 meters, said Shi Songlin, a professor at Chengdu University of Technology.

"The Himalayan yew grows slowly in the wild and has poor regeneration ability. It is the first time I have encountered a wild Himalayan yew with such a large diameter," Shi said.

The tree has broken the record in both trunk diameter and age of wild Himalayan yew in Fengqing, which is of great significance for studying the origin of the species and its living environment and strengthening the protection of the area, Shi added.

Currently, more than 1,000 wild Himalayan yews have been recorded in Fengqing, with a distribution range of about 8,000 mu (about 533.33 hectares), mainly growing at altitudes between 2,500 meters and 3,000 meters above sea level, according to the management and protection bureau of the reserve's Fengqing area.

The Himalayan yew is a national first-class protected wild plant in China, and is listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species.