The yak is a long-haired bovine found throughout the Himalayan region of south Central Asia, the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau and as far north as Mongolia. In addition to a large domestic population, there is a small, vulnerable wild yak population.

Nepal (1987) 5 Rupee (back) - Yaks, animals found in mountainous regions like Nepal, Himalayas

Yaks are herd animals. Wild male yaks stand about two meters tall at the shoulder, the females about one third of that size, and domesticated yaks about one meter. Both types have long shaggy hair to insulate them from the cold. Wild yaks can be brown or black. Domesticated ones can also be white. Both males and females have horns.

Wild yaks can weigh up to 1,200 kg (2,400 lb). They usually form groups of between 10 and 30 animals. Their habitat is treeless uplands like hills, mountains and plateaus between 3,200 m (10,500 ft) and roughly 5,400 m (18,000 ft). They eat grasses, lichens and other plants. They are insulated by dense, close, matted under-hair as well as their shaggy outer hair. [1] Yaks secrete a special sticky substance in their sweat which helps keep their under-hair matted and acts as extra insulation. This secretion is used in traditional Nepalese medicine.

Domestic yaks mate in about September; the females may first conceive at about 3-4 years of age, calving April to June about every other or every third year, apparently depending upon food supply. This gestation period is approximately 9 months. In the absence of more data, wild animals are assumed to mirror this reproductive behavior. Calves will be weaned at one year and become independent shortly thereafter. Yaks may live to somewhat more than 20 years.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Yak"