Himalayan Yak

About Himalayan Yak

• Yaks belong to the genus Bos and are therefore related to cattle (Bos primigenius species).
• Domestic Yak (Bos Grunniens) descended from the wild yak (Bos mutus).
• Distribution:
  • Yak is found throughout the Himalayan region — Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, North Bengal, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir — while wild Yak is found in Tibet.
  • It is also found as far north as Mongolia and Russia.
• National Research Centre on Yak:
  • The Government of India established the ICAR-National Research Centre on Yak, in 1989 at Dirang, Arunachal Pradesh as a dedicated centre for research into yak husbandry.
• Yak Census 2019:
  • According to a census carried out in 2019, India has some 58,000 yaks – a drop of about 25% from the livestock census of 2012.
  • The drastic decline could be attributed to less remuneration from the bovid and discouraging the younger generations from continuing with nomadic yak rearing.
  • The sale of yak milk and meat is limited to local consumers.

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