Distinguished by handlebar horns and long hair, this high-altitude bovine cousin of the cow grazes across the grasslands of the Tibetan Plateau. With three times the lung capacity of typical cows, yaks take in stride the thin air, rugged terrain, and harsh weather of Tibet—with frigid winter temperatures that can dip below zero—and have subsisted for thousands of years on a meager diet of grasses and sedges.
As recently as half a century ago, a million or so wild yaks roamed the Tibetan Plateau. Today the International Union for Conservation of Nature puts the global population at under 10, wild yaks—in other words, officially vulnerable to extinction—due to poaching, habitat loss, and interbreeding.
Home on the range: Historically, yaks were essential to the survival of the people of the Tibetan Plateau, much like bison were to American Indians. It is believed that ancient Qiang herdsmen domesticated yaks some 10, years ago. Yak butter and milk as well as salt are added to a special black tea from Pemagul to make the soupy traditional drink, which fortifies against the thin, cold air of the Himalaya Mountains. The energy boost from traditional butter tea so captivated one Western traveler, Dave Asprey, that he returned from Tibet and formulated Bulletproof Coffee, a buzzy brand that combines grass-fed butter with coffee.
Chew on this: Yak milk also makes yogurt and cheese rich in nutritious omega-3 fatty acids, including chhurpi —hardened yak milk cheese that can be stored for years. Consuming the hard-to-chew cheese can take several hours, making it an ideal snack for a trek across the grasslands—and, in recent years, a popular dog snack in North America, Britain, and Japan. Breakfast of peacemakers: The Dalai Lama starts each morning with tsamba, flour made from toasted barley that is often added to salted tea that has been mixed together with yak butter—a traditional and popular meal in Tibet.
Grass-fed meat: Though Tibetan Buddhists typically minimize their meat consumption, nomads have long survived harsh conditions on high-protein yak meat, sometimes even consuming fresh meat raw. The yaks could not move to another location because of heavy snowfall. Their blood froze. Share Via. The report is supposed to reach the administration by Monday evening. Officials described the incident as catastrophic and unprecedented.
The herding families depend on the yaks and earn their living by selling their milk and cheese. Get our Daily News Capsule Subscribe. Thank you for subscribing to our Daily News Capsule newsletter.
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