The Wild Yak: Treasure of the High Plateaus

I was just nine or ten when I first heard that a yak was brought to Delhi Zoo in 1959-1960. Being fascinated by animals from childhood, I tried unsuccessfully to persuade my father, posted in Meerut as a Sessions Judge, to take me to the Delhi Zoo to see it. It was nearly 45 years later, that I saw domestic yaks in Sikkim and Ladakh. Despite my attempts, I have not yet seen a wild yak. In Ladakh, the only region with a small wild yak population, they are known to live in the Chang Chenmo Valley in the northeastern Changthang region bordering Tibet. I visited this area 10 years ago but could not locate any wild yaks, though I did see some Tibetan antelope from a distance in the no-man’s land between India and China (Tibet). I left with the knowledge that between 40 and 50 wild yaks are found in India though none obliged me.

Mr Syed Intesar Suhail, Wildlife Warden, Leh, from May 2013 to October 2015, saw two wild yaks in the hot springs area in Chang Chenmo on June 27, 2014. He writes, “They looked huge even from such a distance. The light was fast fading, and it was futile trying for a shot. I had a good look with my binoculars for a couple of minutes before the pair went down the ridge and disappeared. The army men stationed at the hot spring camp also mentioned how frequently they encountered wild yak in the area. In fact, I noticed a massive dent at the rear of an army vehicle and was told the blow from a charging yak bull, accidentally cornered during patrolling, caused it.” According to Suhail, besides the Chang Chenmo Valley, wild yaks are also reported from the Daulat Beigh Oldi area.

High altitude residents

Cold-loving wild yaks are found at altitudes of 3,000-6,000 m on the “roof of the world”, primarily in northern Tibet and western Qinghai (northwestern China). Some isolated populations are found in southern Xinjiang and Ladakh and in western Tibet and eastern Qinghai. A few years ago, wild yaks were discovered in Nepal, and some reports indicate their presence in Mongolia.

On the other hand, there are 14-15 million domestic yaks in India, China, Nepal, Mongolia, and Central Asia. They have also been introduced in the USA, where they now number around 5,000. 

Cold weather creatures

Wild yaks are happiest where the average annual mean temperature is below 5 degrees C, and the temperatures never rise above 13 degrees C. In summer, when temperatures can go up to 30 degrees C on sunny days, the yaks, both domestic and wild, prefer to graze in the morning, evening and night. During the hottest part of the day, they shift to the shadiest part of the mountain. In winter, it can go down to -40 degrees C, but yaks do well in freezing temperatures, thanks to their high thickset and shaggy fur that “in males falls from the chest and flanks like a woollen skirt over its legs”, the famous biologist George Schaller wrote in his book Wildlife of the Tibetan Plateau.

Domesticated beast of burden

The yak appears to have been domesticated nearly 7,000 years ago. The wild yak is scientifically known as Bos mutus, and its domesticated cousin is Bos grunniens. The wild yak is aggressive, but the domestic yak is “as peaceful as a cow”, as one Tibetan told me. The domestic yak is equivalent to the cattle of the plains. Locals use domestic yak for wool, milk, meat, and skin. One of the endearing scenes, now becoming rare, is to see a nomadic tent, called baku, in a large green valley with hundreds of domestic yaks grazing bucolically all around it. Such scenes convey that time has stood still. Unfortunately, the commercialisation of tourism in Ladakh has resulted in gaudily-attired domestic yaks being made to give joy rides to hedonistic, loud, littering tourists with no respect for local culture and traditions. Such scenes have become common around Tso Moriri and Pangong Lake.

Yak habitat

The natural habitat of the wild yak is tree-less, tundra-like upland, dominated by grasses and small herbs on which it feeds. It does not occur in barren or rocky steep areas. Unfortunately, most of its habitat is occupied by human and domestic yaks, sheep and cattle. An estimated 15,000 wild yaks live either in marginal habitats or extremely remote areas.  

Social scene

In a study conducted on wild yaks in Kekexili Reserve, in the Tibetan Qinghai Plateau, China, scientists found that, on average, female groups were about 15 times larger, about 100 m higher (mean elevation 4,875 m), and in wetter or more rugged topography than male groups. The cows (female yak) are generally found in herds varying in numbers from 10-100, while the old bulls are usually solitary or in small parties of three or four.

Anti-predator strategies

Females with young ones prefer steeper slopes as an anti-predatory strategy against Tibetan wolves or chanco that generally hunt in the plains. Another predator is the snow leopard that lives in rugged terrain, but mama yak can defend her young ones from it most of the time. Another defence strategy is for a group of lactating females to join and graze in the vast open plains where they can see any approaching predator. If predators venture nearby, they all gather together and defend their young ones.

These are anti-predator strategies against natural predators. What about humans? No animal can match the depredation of human beings, which is why despite their vast natural habitat, only around 15,000 wild yaks remain, mostly in protected areas. Poaching still occurs in some parts of Tibet, generally by outsiders, as the local Buddhists do not kill yaks. But, hybridisation with domestic yaks is a big issue. Other insidious issues are over-grazing by domestic yaks and other livestock and the transmission of diseases.

Intermingling of wild and domestic yaks

Another academic paper shows that yak and cattle belong to the same family and share the same habitat, especially during the winter, and that many cattle diseases were found in yaks. Bacterial diseases such as anthrax, botulism, brucellosis, calf scours, leptospirosis, mastitis, pasteurellosis, salmonellosis, tetanus and tuberculosis have been reported in yaks. While domestic yaks can be treated by vets, it can be catastrophic if these diseases spread to wild yaks. These are the issues that we need to study and take action on before the population of wild yaks decreases further. Earlier, the wild yak was listed as “Endangered” by the IUCN but based on better surveys and protection, in 1996, it was downlisted to “Vulnerable” based on the estimated rate of population decline and current population sizes. We must ensure better protection so their numbers increase and wild yaks repopulate areas that originally belonged to them. Perhaps one day, we will be able to see them more easily in our part of their range in Ladakh.

Photo sources: cover image, illustration, stamp