The yak - a fascinating animal species

The yak is aExtraordinary animalwhich is particularly evident in the Central Asian highlands feels at home. It is perfectly adapted to its environment and is counted among the so-called "domestic cattle".

Hard facts about Yaks

The animals are quite massive, the male yaks can grow up to Two meters tall and three meters long become. With this immense size, they bring up to one ton on the scales. The cows are smaller, with a maximum height of between 1 m and 1.5 m, so they only weigh around 300 kg. A newborn calf is surprisingly small and weighs just 12-15 kilograms.

The life expectancy of a yak is up to 20 years. Despite their size, the animals can run at speeds of up to 40kmh. The typical sound they make is the reason for their nickname as Grunt ox.

Appearance

The characteristics of the yak are definitely his hair. It wears a long coat. Wild yaks are dark brown to black, but there are also white animals. The special thing about yak fur is that it is the only type of cattle, multilayered is. This means that it has a fine, even spinnable undercoat and a firm outer coat. The animals have a hump on their hump and their tail resembles that of a horse.

The head of the animal is characterized by the quite small mouth and the horns. These grow bent sideways out of the head and can grow up to one meter long in bulls. The female yaks tend to have straight horns or sometimes no horns at all.

Adaptation to the environment

The ideal habitat is in areas where it does not normally get warmer than 15 degrees, even in summer.

At these 'maximum' temperatures, the animals' pulse and breathing increase so that they can dissipate the excess heat. If it is actually 20 degrees, the yaks try to stay near water and in the shade and remain motionless.

In contrast, the breathing rate drops to seven to 15 breaths per minute in colder temperatures in order to minimize heat loss. Yaks can tolerate cold temperatures much better than heat, including Sub-zero temperatures down to -30 degrees do not bother the animals.

The low oxygen saturation of the altitudes where the animals are found is also not a problem; they are carriers of a very high oxygen concentration. specific hemoglobin, which enables them to absorb oxygen better. This allows them to grow at heights of 5000 meters above sea level survive.

Nutrition

Yaks are Ruminantsthey feed predominantly on Plantsespecially grazers. In the summer months, the animals eat up to 5.5 kg per day; in winter, when fewer resources are available, they only consume around 2 kg per day. This is also associated with a strong fluctuation in body weight between summer and winter. But even more impressive is the ability of the animals to survive snowstorms. several days completely without water and food can survive.

Lifestyle

The grunt oxen are Herd animals. A herd can consist of up to 20 cows and young bulls. The bulls join these herds during the mating season. Within the herds there are fixed RankingsThese are fought over battles.

Yaks are said to be stubborn in character and are particularly vigilant and suspicious of predators. But also Curiosity shapes the nature of the animal.

Use by humans

Thousands of years before the turn of the millennium, the Wildyaks domesticatedThe so-called domestic yaks are somewhat smaller, but otherwise very similar to their wild counterparts, although in extreme forms they no longer have horns.

From ancient times to the present day, animals have been used in different ways. Their fur is combed out and Wool The milk that the cows produce is extremely high in fat and is therefore well suited for the production of Cheese. Also the Meat of the animals can be eaten, the skins are turned into Leather processed. Due to their strength, they are often used by people as Draft animals used. Especially with Expeditions In the highlands, for example in the Himalayan mountains, they were and are used as pack animals.

Existence and threat

The population of yaks is decreasingSince 1996, these have even been at risk classified. The current population is estimated at less than 10 thousand. The wild yaks have been displaced from many of their original habitats as people have built on the sites or used them for other purposes. The wild animals in their original form now probably only exist in Chinain other regions such as the Mongolia or Nepal domestic yaks can be found in the wild again. The domesticated form of the animals is not endangered; several million of them are bred and kept for commercial use. Also in Europe house yaks have been present since around 1785.

Yak - an animal worth seeing

Curious to see these impressive animals in the wild? Then the highlands of Central Asia must be on your bucket list. With TripLegend, for example, you can travel to Bhutan and Nepal or in the Mongolia travel. Also Kyrgyzstan is an option!

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