yak

A domestic yak and suckling calf in Tibet, on a high plateau in the Himalayas. Yaks are kept for milking, wool, and for meat, as well as being used as pack animals. Domestic yaks are smaller than the scarce wild yaks, due to cross-breeding with cattle.

Yaks ploughing in Tibet. The yak is a mainstay of the economy, providing meat, milk, and leather, and serving as a pack and saddle animal. Their dried dung also serves as fuel on the treeless plateaus. Wild yaks have been greatly reduced in number and are now an endangered species.

Species of cattle Bos grunniens, family Bovidae, which lives in wild herds at high altitudes in Tibet. It stands about 2 m/6 ft at the shoulder and has long shaggy hair on the underparts. It has large, upward-curving horns and humped shoulders. It is in danger of becoming extinct.

In the wild, the yak is brown or black, but the domesticated variety, which is half the size of the wild form, may be white. It is used for milk, meat, leather, and as a beast of burden. The yak is protected from extremes of cold by its thick coat and by the heat produced from the fermentation in progress in its stomach.