Yak#Husbandry

The English word yak originates from the {{bo|t=གཡག་|w=g.yag}}. In Tibetan and Balti it refers only to the male of the species, the female being called {{bo|t=འབྲི་|w='bri}} or {{bo|t=གནག|w=gnag}} in Tibetan and {{bo|t=ཧཡག་མོ་|w=hYag-mo}} in Balti. In English, as in most other languages that have borrowed the word, yak is usually used for both sexes, with bull or cow referring to each sex separately.

File:Gansu Museum 2007 318.jpg, China; Yuan dynasty, 1271–1368 AD]]

Belonging to the genus Bos, yaks are related to cattle (Bos primigenius). Mitochondrial DNA analyses to determine the evolutionary history of yaks have been inconclusive.

The yak may have diverged from cattle at any point between one and five million years ago, and there is some suggestion that it may be more closely related to bison than to the other members of its designated genus.{{cite journal | author = Guo, S.| year = 2006 | title = Taxonomic placement and origin of yaks: implications from analyses of mtDNA D-loop fragment sequences |url=http://www.mammal.cn/EN/abstract/abstract2079.shtml| journal = Acta Theriologica Sinica | volume = 26 | issue = 4 | pages = 325–330|display-authors=etal}} Apparent close fossil relatives of the yak, such as Bos baikalensis, have been found in eastern Russia, suggesting a possible route by which yak-like ancestors of the modern American bison could have entered the Americas.

The species was originally designated as Bos grunniens ("grunting ox") by Linnaeus in 1766. Still, this name is now generally considered to refer only to the domesticated form of the animal, with Bos mutus ("mute ox") being the preferred name for the wild species. Although some authors still consider the wild yak to be a subspecies, Bos grunniens mutus, the ICZN made an official ruling in 2003{{cite journal | author = International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature | year = 2003 | title = Opinion 2027. Usage of 17 specific names based on wild species that are predated by or contemporary with those based on domestic animals (Lepidoptera, Osteichthyes, Mammalia): conserved | journal = Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature | volume = 60 | pages = 81–84 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/34357823}} permitting the use of the name Bos mutus for wild yaks, and this is now the more common usage.{{cite iucn |author=Buzzard, P. |author2=Berger, J. |date=2016 |title=Bos mutus |volume=2016 |page=e.T2892A101293528 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-2.RLTS.T2892A101293528.en |access-date=12 November 2021}}{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1016/j.jas.2003.10.006| title = The naming of wild animal species and their domestic derivatives| journal = Journal of Archaeological Science| volume = 31| issue = 5| pages = 645| year = 2004| last1 = Gentry | first1 = A. | last2 = Clutton-Brock | first2 = J. | last3 = Groves | first3 = C. P. | bibcode = 2004JArSc..31..645G}}

There are no recognised subspecies of yak except where the wild yak is considered a subspecies of Bos grunniens.

File:Yak in Langtang Valley.jpg valley,Nepal ]]

Yaks are heavily built animals with bulky frames, sturdy legs, rounded, cloven hooves, and extremely dense, long fur hanging lower than the belly. While wild yaks are generally dark, blackish to brown in colouration, domestic yaks can be quite variable, often having rusty brown and cream patches. They have small ears and broad foreheads, with smooth horns that are generally dark in colour. In males (bulls), the horns sweep out from the sides of the head and then curve backwards; they typically range from {{cvt|48|to|99|cm}} in length.

The horns of females (cows) are smaller, at {{cvt|27|to|64|cm}} in length, and have a more upright shape. Both sexes have a short neck with a pronounced hump over the shoulders, although this is larger and more visible in males.{{cite journal | author1 = Leslie, D.M. | author2 = Schaller, G.B. | year = 2009 | title = Bos grunniens and Bos mutus (Artiodactyla: Bovidae) | journal = Mammalian Species | volume = 836 | pages = 1–17 | doi = 10.1644/836.1 | doi-access = free }} Males weigh {{Cvt|350|to|585|kg|lb}}, females weigh {{Cvt|225|to|255|kg|lb}}. Wild (feral) yaks can be substantially heavier, bulls reaching weights of up to {{cvt|1000|kg|lb}}.Buchholtz, C. (1990). True Cattle (Genus Bos). pp. 386–397 in S. Parker, ed. Grzimek's Encyclopedia of Mammals, Volume 5. New York: McGraw-Hill Publishing Company. (quoted in [http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Bos_grunniens.html Oliphant, M. (2003). Bos grunniens (On-line), Animal Diversity Web. Accessed 4 April 2009]) Depending on the breed, domestic yak males are {{cvt|111|-|138|cm|in}} high at the withers, while females are {{cvt|105|-|117|cm|in}} high at the withers.{{cite web|url=http://www.fao.org/docrep/006/AD347E/ad347e06.htm|title=The Yak. Chapter 2: Yak breeds|website=FAO|access-date=2017-08-31}}

Both sexes have long, shaggy hair with a dense woolly undercoat over the chest, flanks, and thighs to insulate them from the cold. Especially in bulls, this may form a long "skirt" that can reach the ground. The tail is long and horselike rather than tufted like the tails of cattle or bison. Domesticated yaks have a wide range of coat colours, with some individuals being white, grey, brown, roan or piebald. The udder in females and the scrotum in males are small and hairy as protection against the cold. Females have four teats.

Yaks are not known to produce the characteristic lowing (mooing) sound of cattle, but both wild and domestic yaks grunt and squeak, which inspired the scientific name of the domestic yak variant, Bos grunniens (grunting bull). Nikolay Przhevalsky named the wild variant Bos mutus (silent bull), believing that it did not make a sound at all, but it does.{{cite web|url=http://www.fao.org/docrep/006/AD347E/ad347e05.htm|title=Origins, Domestication and Distribution of Yak|website=FAO|access-date=2017-08-31}}

File:The Yak Rider.JPG, Sikkim ({{Convert|3700|m|abbr=on}})]]

Yak physiology is well adapted to high altitudes, having larger lungs and heart than cattle found at lower altitudes, as well as greater capacity for transporting oxygen through their blood,{{cite web|url=http://www.fao.org/DOCREP/006/AD347E/ad347e08.htm|title=The Yak in Relation to Its Environment|website=FAO}}The Yak, Second Edition. Bangkok: Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, {{ISBN|92-5-104965-3}}. Accessed 8 August 2008. due to the persistence of foetal haemoglobin throughout life.{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1053/tvjl.1999.0361| pmid = 10409419| title = Fetal Haemoglobin in Pregnant Yaks (Poephagus grunniens L.)| journal = The Veterinary Journal| volume = 158| issue = 1| pages = 68–70| year = 1999| last1 = Sarkar | first1 = M.| last2 = Das | first2 = D. N. | last3 = Mondal | first3 = D. B. }} Conversely, yaks have trouble thriving at lower altitudes,[http://agtr.ilri.cgiar.org/BreedInformation/breedpg/Others/Yak.htm Yak], Animal genetics training resources version II: Breed Information. Adopted from: Bonnemaire, J. "Yak". In: Mason, Ian L. (ed). (1984). Evolution of Domesticated Animals. London: Longman, pp. 39–45. {{ISBN|0-582-46046-8}}. Accessed 8 August 2008. and are prone to suffering from heat exhaustion above about {{cvt|15|C}}. Further adaptations to the cold include a thick layer of subcutaneous fat and an almost complete lack of functional sweat glands.

Compared with domestic cattle, the rumen of yaks is unusually large, relative to the omasum.{{Citation needed|date=October 2014}} This likely allows them to consume greater quantities of low-quality food at a time, and to ferment it longer to extract more nutrients. Yak consume the equivalent of 1% of their body weight daily while cattle require 3% to maintain condition.{{Citation needed|date=February 2012}} They are grazing herbivores, with their wild ancestors feeding primarily on grass and sedges,{{cite journal |last1= Harris |first1= R.B. |last2= Miller |first2= D.J. |date= October 2009 |title= Overlap in summer habitats and diets of Tibetan Plateau ungulates |journal= Mammalia |volume= 59 |issue= 2 |pages= 197–212 |doi= 10.1515/mamm.1995.59.2.197|s2cid= 84659876 }} with some herbs and dwarf shrubs.{{cite journal |last1= Schaller |first1= G.B. |last2= Liu |first2= W. |date= 1996 |title= Distribution, status, and conservation of wild yak Bos grunniens |journal= Biological Conservation |volume= 76 |issue= 1 |pages= 1–8 |doi= 10.1016/0006-3207(96)85972-6|bibcode= 1996BCons..76....1S }}

File:Yak calf in Austria 2009.jpg

Yaks mate in the summer, typically between July and September, depending on the local environment. For the remainder of the year, many bulls wander in small bachelor groups away from the large herds. Still, as the rut approaches, they become aggressive and regularly fight with each other to establish dominance. In addition to non-violent threat displays, bellowing, and scraping the ground with their horns, bull yaks compete more directly, repeatedly charging at each other with heads lowered or sparring with their horns. Like bison, but unlike cattle, males wallow in dry soil during the rut, often while scent-marking with urine or dung. Females enter oestrus up to four times a year, and females are receptive only for a few hours in each cycle.{{cite journal | author1 = Sarkar, M. | author2 = Prakash, B.S. | year = 2005 | title = Timing of ovulation in relation to onset of estrus and LH peak in yak (Poephagus grunniens L.) | journal = Animal Reproduction Science | volume = 86 | issue = 4 | pages = 353–362 | doi = 10.1016/j.anireprosci.2004.08.005| pmid = 15766812 }}

Gestation lasts between 257 and 270 days, so that the young are born between May and June, and results in the birth of a single calf. The cow finds a secluded spot to give birth, but the calf can walk within about ten minutes of birth, and the pair soon rejoin the herd. Females of both the wild and domestic forms typically give birth only once every other year, although more frequent births are possible if the food supply is good.

Calves are weaned at one year and become independent shortly thereafter. Wild calves are initially brown in color and only later develop darker adult hair. Females generally give birth for the first time at three or four years of age,{{cite journal | author = Zi, X.D. | year = 2003 | title = Reproduction in female yaks (Bos grunniens) and opportunities for improvement | journal = Theriogenology | volume = 59 | issue = 5–6 | pages = 1303–1312 | doi = 10.1016/S0093-691X(02)01172-X | pmid = 12527077}} and reach their peak reproductive fitness at around six years. Yaks may live for more than twenty years in domestication or captivity, although it is likely that this may be somewhat shorter in the wild.

For thousands of years,{{cn|date=October 2024}} domesticated yaks have been kept in Mongolia and Tibet, primarily for their milk, fibre (wool), and meat, and as beasts of burden.{{cite journal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QzuheS7ZSWkC&pg=PA40 |first=K. J. |last=Peters |page=40 |title=Unconventional livestock: Classification and potential uses |journal=ILCA Bulletin |number=27 |publisher=International Livestock Centre for Africa |date=April 1987}} Their dried droppings are an important fuel, used all over Tibet, and are often the only fuel available on the high, treeless Tibetan Plateau. Yaks transport goods across mountain passes for local farmers and traders and are an attraction for climbing and trekking expeditions: "Only one thing makes it hard to use yaks for long journeys in barren regions. They will not eat grain, which could be carried on the journey. They will starve unless they can be brought to a place where there is grass."Golden Book Encyclopedia, Vol. 16 p. 1505b. Rockefeller Center, NY: Golden Press (1959). They also are used to draw ploughs.{{cite web|url=http://himalaya.socanth.cam.ac.uk/collections/journals/jbs/pdf/JBS_02_01_04.pdf |website=Digital Himalaya |title=Economy of Yak Herders|last=Gyamtsho|first=Pema}} Yaks' milk is often processed to a cheese called chhurpi in Tibetan and Nepali languages, and byaslag in Mongolia. Butter made from yaks' milk is an ingredient of the butter tea that Tibetans consume in large quantities,{{cite magazine |url=http://www.flavorandfortune.com/dataaccess/article.php?ID=205 |access-date=2012-12-19 |title=Tibet and Tibetan Foods |date=Winter 1999 |first1=Jacqueline M. |last1=Newman |magazine=Flavor and Fortune |volume=6 |issue=4 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130701001047/http://www.flavorandfortune.com/dataaccess/article.php?ID=205 |archive-date= Jul 1, 2013 }} and is also used in lamps and made into butter sculptures used in religious festivities."[http://www.webexhibits.org/butter/countries-tibet.html Butter - Yaks, butter & lamps in Tibet]", WebExhibits.

Small numbers of herds can be found in the United States, Canada, New Zealand, and some parts of Europe. Yaks have generated interest outside the Himalayas as a commercial crop and by cattle breeders. The main interest of North American yak breeders is lean meat production by hybridizing with other cattle, followed by wool production.{{cite web|url=http://www.fao.org/3/ad347e/ad347e0u.htm|title=Part 3 - Yak in nontraditional environments by Gerald Wiener|publisher=FAO |work=the Yak - Second Edition |date= 2003 }}

The Indian government established a dedicated centre for research into yak husbandry, the ICAR-National Research Centre on Yak, in 1989. It is located at Dirang, Arunachal Pradesh, and maintains a yak farm in the Nyukmadung area at an altitude of {{convert|2750|m|ft}} above MSL.{{cite web|title=Welcome to the Official Website of ICAR-NRCY |website=nrcy.icar.gov.in |url=http://nrcy.icar.gov.in/}}

In Nepal, Tibet, and Mongolia, domestic cattle are crossbred with yaks. This gives rise to the infertile male dzo མཛོ། as well as fertile females known as {{lang|ne|dzomo}} or {{lang|ne|zhom}} མཛོ་མོ།, which may be crossed again with cattle. The Dwarf Lulu breed, "the only Bos primigenius taurus type of cattle in Nepal" has been tested for DNA markers and found to be a mixture of both taurine and zebu types of cattle (B. p. taurus and B. p. indicus) with yak.{{cite journal|title=Mitochondrial DNA analysis of Nepalese domestic dwarf cattle Lulu|journal=Animal Science Journal|author1=Takeda, K. |author2=Satoh, M. |author3=Neopane, S.P. |author4=Kuwar, B.S. |author5=Joshi, H.D. |author6=Shrestha, N.P. |author7=Fujise, H. |author8=Tasai, M. |author9=Tagami, T. |author10=Hanada, H. |doi=10.1111/j.1740-0929.2004.00163.x|year=2004|volume=75|issue=2|pages=103}} According to the International Veterinary Information Service, the low productivity of second-generation cattle–yak crosses makes them suitable only as meat animals.

Crosses between yaks and domestic cattle (Bos primigenius taurus) have been recorded in Chinese literature for at least 2,000 years. Successful crosses have also been recorded between yak and American bison,Zhang, R.C. (14 December 2000). [http://www.ivis.org/advances/Zhao/zhang3/IVIS.pdf "Interspecies Hybridization between Yak, Bos taurus and Bos indicus and Reproduction of the Hybrids"]. In: Recent Advances in Yak Reproduction, Zhao, X.X.; Zhang, R.C. (eds.). International Veterinary Information Service. gaur, and banteng, generally with similar results to those produced with domestic cattle.

Jacques et al. (2021){{cite journal|title=Yak Domestication: A Review of Linguistic, Archaeological, and Genetic Evidence|journal=Ethnobiology Letters|author1=Jacques, G.|author1-link=Guillaume Jacques |author2=d'Alpoim Guedes, J. |author3=Zhang, S. |doi=10.14237/ebl.12.1.2021.1755|year=2021|volume=12|issue=1|pages=103–114|s2cid=238997533|doi-access=free}} show that most elaborate yak-related terminologies are found within Tibetic and Gyalrongic languages. Both branches also have native terms for yak-cattle hybrids, suggesting that Tibetic and Gyalrongic speakers may have independently cross-bred yaks and cattle, predating the proto-Gyalrongic split (3221 [2169–4319] BP{{cite journal|title=Dated language phylogenies shed light on the ancestry of Sino-Tibetan|journal= Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences|author1=Sagart, L.|author1-link=Laurent Sagart |author2=Jacques, G.|author2-link=Guillaume Jacques|author3=Lai, Y.|author4=Ryder, R.J.|author5=Thouzeau, V.|author6=Greenhill, S. J.|author6-link=Simon Greenhill |author7=List, J.-M.|author7-link=Johann-Mattis List|doi=10.1073/pnas.1817972116 |pmc=6534992 |year=2019|volume=116|issue=21|pages=10317–10322|pmid=31061123|bibcode=2019PNAS..11610317S |doi-access=free}}) from Tibeto-Gyalrongic. The oldest dated physical evidence of yak domestication is from 2,500 years BP.{{Cite web |date=13 December 2023 |title=Earliest evidence for domestic yak found using both archaeology, ancient DNA |url=https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/12/231213143709.htm |access-date=14 December 2023 |website=ScienceDaily |language=en}}

File:Yak racing.jpg]]

In parts of Tibet and Karakorum, yak racing is a form of entertainment at traditional festivals and an important part of their culture. More recently, sports involving domesticated yaks, such as yak skiing or yak polo, are being marketed as tourist attractions in South Asian countries, including in Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan.{{Citation needed|date=December 2016}}

In Nepal, an annual festival is held to drink the fresh blood of yak, and it is believed that it cures various diseases such as gastritis, jaundice, and body strain.{{Cite journal| doi = 10.3167/np.2007.110204| volume = 11| issue = 2| pages = 57–85| last1 = Degen| first1 = Allan A.| last2 = Kam| first2 = Michael| last3 = Pandey| first3 = Shambhu B.| last4 = Upreti| first4 = Chet R.| last5 = Pandey| first5 = Sanjeev| last6 = Regmi| first6 = Prajwal| title = Transhumant Pastoralism in Yak Production in the Lower Mustang District of Nepal| journal = Nomadic Peoples| date = 2007-10-21}}{{cite web| title = People flock to Mustang to drink yak blood| access-date = 2021-06-07| url = https://kathmandupost.com/miscellaneous/2016/04/23/people-flock-in-mustang-to-drink-yak-blood}} The fresh blood is extracted from the neck of a yak without killing it. The cut is healed after the ceremony is over.{{cite web| title = Festival to drink Yak blood begins in Nepal| work = Hindustan Times| access-date = 2021-06-07| date = 2008-07-20| url = https://www.hindustantimes.com/world/festival-to-drink-yak-blood-begins-in-nepal/story-sbE82I3UCI6YoC2eCN7cCK.html}} The ritual is believed to be originated in Tibet and Mustang.{{Cite news| issn = 0971-751X| last = Ians| title = Nepal now sees blood drinking festival| work = The Hindu| location = Kathmandu| access-date = 2021-06-07| date = 2010-03-11| url = https://www.thehindu.com/news/Nepal-now-sees-blood-drinking-festival/article16559874.ece}}

Traditionally, yaks are used to transport deceased people to charnel grounds for sky burials in Tibet, with Tibetan practice holding that the yaks be set free upon the conclusion of the task.{{cite web |title=Sky Burial – The traditional Tibetan Funeral Custom |url=http://eng.tibet.cn/eng/index/life/201907/t20190726_6646094.html |website=Tibet.cn |access-date=12 April 2025}}{{citation |url=http://english.sina.com/china/2012/1213/537423.html |website=Sina English |title=Funeral Reforms Edge Along in Tibetan Areas |date=December 13, 2012 |editor-last=Runze |editor-first=Yu |access-date=August 12, 2024 |publisher=Xinhua |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224131001/http://english.sina.com/china/2012/1213/537423.html |archive-date=February 24, 2021}}{{cite web |last1=Jigme |first1=Catherine |title=Sky burial may be replaced by cremation in Qinghai |url=https://www.tibettravel.org/news/201403242081.html |website=Tibet Travel |access-date=12 April 2025}}{{cite web |last1=Logan |first1=Pamela |title=Survival and Evolution of Sky Burial Practices |url=https://www.pamela-logan.com/culture/survival-and-evolution-of-sky-burial/ |access-date=12 April 2025}}

File:Yaks in Manali.jpg|Yaks in Manali, Himachal Pradesh, India, saddled for riding

File:LitangMonastery.jpg|Train of pack yaks at Litang monastery in Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan, China

File:Yaks still provide the best way to plow fields in Tibet.jpg|Yaks plowing fields in Tibet

File:YakRace.jpg|Yaks in Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan

File:四川 阿坝 白牦牛 - panoramio.jpg|Domestic yak in Mao County, China

File:Girl On Yak In Yunnan Province China.jpg|alt=Girl on Yak in Yunnan Province, China|Girl on yak in Yunnan Province, China

File:四姑娘山景区 Mount Siguniang Scenic Area 17.jpg|A yak at Mount Siguniang Scenic Area, Sichuan, China

• Yakalo
• Yak dance

{{reflist|30em}}

• {{Wikispecies-inline}}
• {{Commons-inline}}
• [https://www.iyak.org/ International Yak Association (IYAK)]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20070928013330/http://www.eyak.ch/ European Yak Association (EYAK)]
• [http://www.fao.org/docrep/006/ad347e/ad347e06.htm Article on Yak breeds in FAO archives]
• [http://kekexili.typepad.com/life_on_the_tibetan_plate/2006/10/yaks.html Yaks: The Official Animal of Tibet]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20130523064042/http://me.lzu.edu.cn/yak/ Yak Genome Database]

{{Artiodactyla|R.4}}

{{Fibers}}

{{Meat|state=expanded}}

{{Working animals}}

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Category:Livestock

Category:Domesticated animals

Category:Pack animals

Category:Mammals of Central Asia

Category:Mammals of East Asia

Category:Mammals of Siberia

Category:Mammals of South Asia

Category:Mammals of Tibet

Category:Fauna of the Himalayas

Category:Mammals described in 1766

Category:Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus

Category:Bos