Or so claims the website Yak Page. On their home page they claim that “You have reached the largest, most comprehensive, inclusive, and informative yak site on the web!”
It turns out there are lots of pages about the yak. Seriously, site after site dedicated to the yak. How did I not know this before?
Question Yak is definitely the coolest yak I know. And, he has a few more questions, but before taking any more I thought it best to know exactly what a yak is? I don’t think I’ve ever seen one up close and personal.
First stop, wikipedia (please don’t tell the folks at Yak Page). Wow, there’s a lot to know about yaks, but here are a few highlights…
Domesticated yaks are kept primarily for their milk, fibre and meat, and as beasts of burden. Their dried dung is an important fuel, used all over Tibet, and is often the only fuel available on the high treeless Tibetan plateau. Yaks transport goods across mountain passes for local farmers and traders as well as 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.” They also are used to draw ploughs. Yak milk is often processed to a cheese called chhurpi in Tibetan and Nepali languages, and byaslag in Mongolia. Butter made of Yaks’ milk is an ingredient of the butter tea that Tibetans consume in large quantities, and is also used in lamps and made into butter sculptures used in religious festivities. Yaks grunt, and unlike cattle are not known to produce the characteristic bovine lowing sound.
Let’s just stop and review a couple of things…
-Their dried dung is an important fuel…does Al Gore know this? What must this smell like? OMG.
-Butter made of Yaks’ milk is an ingredient of the butter tea that Tibetans consume in large quantities…butter tea? large quantities? Yikes. Really?
-Yaks grunt, and unlike cattle are not known to produce the characteristic bovine lowing sound…gotta know what that sounds like. Click here for a sample from the Spring Brook Ranch in Montana.
Bet you didn’t know there was Nepal Sherpa Yak lingo…well, there sure is and it’s rather specific…
| Boa: | Male yak |
| Yak: | Castrated male yak |
| Nak or Dri: | Female (cow) yak |
| Khainag (or Dzo [male] and Dzomo [female]): | Hybrid resulting from yak-cow cross |
| Dimjo (or Dim-dzo): | Hybrid with yak dam |
| Urang: | Hybrid with cattle dam |
| Ortoom: | Backcross of female khinag with cattle or yak bulls |
| Usanguzee: | Animal resulting from further backcrossing of ortoom females to cattle or yak bulls |
So, do you think yaks like people? I wonder. I can’t imagine they do as they are described as “beasts of burden.” Do I need to be concerned about meeting yaks along the way? Here’s what wikitravel has to say about that…
Yaks may be photogenic, but they are aggressive and unpredictable. Always stand on the upper slope (i.e., above the path, away from the drop-off) to let yaks pass. Every Sherpa has a tale about Westerners who have stood on the lower side of a trail to let a herd of yaks pass and been killed after being pushed off.
That wraps up today’s yak lesson. Hope you enjoyed it. I’m looking forward to seeing more from Question Yak!
I’m concerned about what you are calling interesting reading