Written by Tadashi
Modified & Updated: 30 Dec 2023
Reviewed by Sherman Smith
Yaks have an important place in the society of the Himalayas and its neighboring regions. Not only do they make up an important part of people’s livelihood, but they also make it possible for people to live in the region in the first place. Learn exactly what is a yak in these 30 Yak facts.
- Depending on the breed, yaks stand on average at a height of around 122 cm.
- Male yaks typically have horns that measure from 48 to 99 cm long.
- Female yaks have shorter horns than males, measuring from 27 to 64 cm long.
- Domesticated yaks can reach a weight of up to 585 kg.
- Wild yaks can grow even heavier, with some specimens weighing up to 1000 kg.
- Yaks first evolved between 5 to 1 million years ago.
- The yaks migrating to North America during the Ice Ages may have become the ancestors of the American bison.
- Humans have domesticated the yaks for thousands of years.
- Yaks in Tibet provide the main source for cloth, meat, and milk.
- They also make up the most common beast of burden in the region.
- Yak droppings also make up the most common fuel source in the treeless Tibetan Plateau.
- Carl Linnaeus gave them their scientific name, Bos grunniens, in 1766.
- Scientists later reserved that name for domesticated yaks and gave wild yaks a different name, Bos mutus.
- Chinese records, going back 2000 years, point to crossbreeding experiments between yaks and cows.
- In modern times, yaks have successfully crossbred with American bison, and Indian bison, among other kinds of cattle.
- Yaks have no known subspecies.
- They will only eat grass, and would rather starve than eat anything else
- Despite what popular fiction says, yaks don’t actually smell bad.
- Yak wool’s natural odor resistance actually makes up one of its selling points.
- India has a yak research center at Dirang, with its own yak farm at a height of 2.75 km above sea level.
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