What do yaks do

Yak feed mainly in the morning and evening, grazing on grasses, herbs and lichens, and eating ice and snow as a source of water. However due to the lack of vegetation where they live, wild yaks have to travel far in order to eat enough.

In July, they move to lower altitudes and then, as the temperature rises in August, they head back up to the plateaus. Domestic yaks cannot "moo" - only grunt, hence their Latin name " Bos grunniens " which means "grunting ox". Wild yaks tend to gather together. Females reach sexual maturity at three to four years, although full size is not reached until six to eight years.

Mating takes place in September and single calves are born from April to June, after a gestation of days. Where wild yak have held on or increased in numbers, interactions and conflicts with domestic pastoralists have increased, and habitat loss and increasing interactions between wild and domestic yak have become major conservation challenges.

Steppe meadow is a favored habitat of wild yaks and the best pasture for domestic livestock, and the expansion of livestock grazing is displacing wild yaks and reducing the habitat available to them. Interbreeding with domestic yak presents the major threat to remaining wild yak populations, not only by threatening the genetic purity of wild yak, but also by creating conflict between wild yaks and pastoralists who do not want to lose their domestic yak cows when they join wild bulls.

Consequently, while yak range has expanded in some pockets, the overall range of the wild yak has shrunk, and only fragmented, isolated populations remain in the core area in northern Tibet and northwestern Qinghai Province. Potentially amplifying the effect of expanded grazing by domestic livestock on wild yak-human conflict are the unknown consequences of climate change, which may also impact the availability and distribution of wild yak habitat.

Owing to its dual characteristics of aridity and extremely high elevation, the Tibetan Plateau is warming at nearly twice the rate as other parts of Earth. As a direct consequence, seasonal-melting is intensifying, thereby accelerating glacial recession, escalating river flows, and increasing lake levels.

Associated alteration of hydrological regimes and vegetation biomass may open areas for additional colonization by semi-nomadic Tibetan pastoralists, and consequent increases in yak-human conflict for grazing habitat are likely to occur.

Warming temperatures from climate change are also likely to impact wild yaks and other high elevation or high latitude wildlife because of their intolerance to heat, a reduction in habitat brought about by decreased food access e. Although the wild yak is quite rare, domesticated tame yak are important to many people in South and Southeast Asia.

They provide milk, meat, wool, and transportation. The yak has a two-layered hairy coat. Bio-fuel hazard: For centuries, Tibetans have fired their stoves with cakes of dried yak dung. The effects of black carbon are particularly disastrous in the Himalaya, where the climate is warming at a rate of three to five times faster than global trends. Body check: Each summer, yaks shed their downy undercoat, and Tibetan nomads comb out and process the soft, cashmere-like fiber.

The courser outer hair makes its way into ropes, tents, and even theatrical wigs while yak hide becomes bags and boots. Leading up to this centuries-old tradition, Tibetan monks spend months carving colorful sculptures out of yak butter—from flowers to Buddhist symbols.

During the festival, the ornate sculptures line streets lit by lamps burning yak butter.