The Yak - Himalaya - Nepal
The YAK, not just another hairy beast
If you are fortunate enough to go trekking in
the high Himalaya during your visit here, you will undoubtedly come across the
yak. This shaggy beast, a sort of high-altitude cow, is the animal most often
associated with the Himalaya. In mountain mythology yaks frequently served as
messengers of the gods, but for Himalayan villagers, they are an indispensable
part of the daily life.
In the high Himalayan valleys, most people have several means of livelihood:
farming, trading, and herding sheep and yaks. Originally the yak was a wild
beast which roamed the Tibetan plateau. Particularly suited for high altitude
living above 3000 meters, the yak is one of the mainstays of Himalayan life.
Over the centuries they have been domesticated and sometimes cross-bred by the
local population, but they remain shy creatures, wary of strangers and prone to
erratic behavior.
Male yaks provide the major means of transporting goods in the high-altitude
Himalaya and the Tibetan plateau. They can carry up to one hundred kilograms of
cargo over precarious trails and snow-filled passes. In the mountains between
Nepal and Tibet, long yak caravans are a common sight. The lead yaks are well
trained animals who respond readily to their owner’s commands and know the
trails without faltering step-they can plow through four of unbroken snow. The
respect given to the lead yak is shown by the fact that it does not carry a load
like the rest of the caravan and is adorned with bells and bright red tassels.
In these caravans, which can have up to fifty yaks or more, the main cargo
brought from Tibet is rock salt, dried sheep meat, wool, saddle carpets, worked
silver, and Chinese manufactured goods such as shoes, thermoses flashlights, and
tea cups. Often these traders sell their wares in the high valleys, but if they
decide to trade at lower elevations, the loads are transferred from the yaks to
mules and horses. Rice, tea, sugar, kerosene, and cloth are carried on the
return trip.
The females, call dri or nak, are even more productive than the males for they
give rich milk, essential to the diets of the mountain people. This milk is
especially tasty because of the diet of high mountain herbs; the locals say the
higher the dri grazes, the sweeter the milk. In mountain areas, where the
variety of food is limited, the products derived from dri milk assume great
importance. The people of this region drink more tea than anywhere else in the
world, thirty to fifty cups a day. This tea is not what the foreigner would
expect. It is made with milk, butter, and salt, blended in a tall wooden chum.
It resembles a soup more than tea, and it fortifies the people against the cold.
The milk of dris is also made into cheese and yoghurt. The cheese is dried in
the sun or over an open fire to preserve it for the winter months when dairy
products are scarce. This is called chhurpi, a favorite snack of mountain
people.
Both yaks and dris provide a high quality wool, rich in lanolin and long of
fiber. This creates a whole weaving industry of tents, blankets, ropes, and
clothing. The meat of the animals is eaten fresh or more often, dried into
jerky.
Yak herders are semi-nomadic people. They live in their own villages only during
the cold winter months. Following the seasons and the grass, they move as often
as six times a year. With the warm weather they move up the mountainsides,
reaching the highest pastures in the summer. Some go up as high as 6000 meters.
The trekkers will hike by and perhaps even camp in the high summer settlements
of the yak herders. The construction of these settlements varies from place to
place. Some are solid stone buildings, as found in Langtang, complete with
hearths, shelves, and locking doors. Other’s, as in the Solu district, are
simple bamboo dwellings which are moved with the herd from pasture and pasture.
The herders and animals stay in the summer pasture from May to September. In
this period the females give birth, thus increasing their capacity to produce
the milk. Half the daily milk is left for the young, while the herders take the
rest for their own needs.
With the advent of autumn, the herds are slowly moved back down. Spring is a
time of festivals for the departure of the herders from their homes to the
pasture above. Summer is probably the favorite season because the weather is
warn and the grass and milk plentiful. Fall brings much work, for the winter
fodder must be cut, dried and stored.
The number of yaks in a man’s herd represents his wealth. A yak is a substantial
investment for the Himalayan dweller and an important piece of property. Yaks
may live thirty years, their age is visible by the length of their horns. They
mate and produce milk between the ages of three and twenty-five. Young virile
yaks often test their prowess in competitive battles over the females. These
fights are fierce clashes sometimes resulting in the loser falling over a cliff
or into a gorge.
Yaks that have been cross-bred with cows are called dzo (male) and dzomo
(female). They can live at lower altitudes and are easier to handle when
carrying loads. The dzomo retains the fine milking characteristic of the dris.
The visible difference between the two types of animals is very slight: dzos and
dzomos are smaller and do not have the long shaggy hair falling from their
flanks and sides as yaks do.
Listen for the tinkling of yak bells as you trek through the mountains, along
the steep trails and through high pastures. You are hearing the age-old sound of
the messengers of the gods, the sound of a way of life unique to the Himalaya.
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