The Yak: All-Purpose Animal
Yaks are synonymous with life at high altitudes. They are strong creatures capable of carrying heavy loads, but more than this, they are the ultimate all-purpose beasts of burden. In Nepal, you are likely to encounter them on the Everest Base Camp Trek where they are used as pack animals on the trail. They are easy to spot: they can be two metres tall at the shoulder and up to a metric tonne in weight, looking like the cow equivalent of a hairy mammoth, or perhaps a buffalo with a Beatles? mop-top haircut.
The herds of yaks you will see in Nepal are domesticated and have bells around their necks. As they are herded down the Everest Base Camp Trek trail, they fill the mountainside with a distinct enchanting sound. What is less enchanting is when a herd of sturdy yaks blocks your passage on an Everest trek; you will probably have to step aside, deferring to their massive horns.
A Yak by Any Other Name
In English, the word yak (which is worth eight points in Scrabble) is used to refer to the whole of the species; however, to a native of the Everest region of Nepal the term ‘yak’ only means the male animal, with the word ‘dri’ or ?nak? referring to a female.
Although you may see the domesticated variety, Bos grunniens, while Everest trekking, the wild Yak, Bos mutus, is considered extinct in Nepal and Bhutan. Yaks are quite closely related to the African buffalo, the American bison, and the European bison, except they are adapted to living between 4,000 and 6,000 metres above sea level. They can still be found at these altitudes in Tibet, and there are some isolated populations in China, too.
The type of yak you are most likely to see at the start of an Everest Base Camp Trek is a hybrid: half yak, half cow. Locally, these are called Dzo (male) and Dzomo (female). They are smaller than yaks, and their shorter hair means they are better at handling warmer climates at lower altitudes. As you ascend on your Everest trek, you will notice that Yaks replace their hybrid cousins as they are extremely well adapted to higher altitudes. As well as having a higher concentration of red blood cells, they even have an extra pair of ribs to accommodate their larger sized lungs.
Food & Fuel
Of course, apart from a form of transport, another use for the yak is for food. Yak meat is high in protein, containing only one sixth of the fat of beef, and makes a fine Everest trekking meal when served with noodles. Nothing of the yak is wasted in Nepal; the horns are used as cutting implements, and even the head of the yak is sometimes served for dinner, especially as part of New Year celebrations.
The yaks themselves eat grass, and often have to burrow through several feet of snow to reach their food. They have learned to eat snow when they are thirsty and unfrozen water cannot be found.
Yak milk (or rather, dri milk) is full of goodness, with twice the fat of cow’s milk. It is yellowy in colour and is mostly used for butter and yogurt. These make good energy foods to keep you fuelled-up for your Everest Base Camp Trek. It is so fat-rich that it can also be burned as lamp oil.
You?ll eat the majority of your meals along the Everest Base Camp Trek at Nepalese tea houses. These provide convenient rest stops where trekkers can put their feet up, eat, sleep and acclimatize to the mountain environment.
Some of the tea houses will cook meals over a traditional yak dung stove. Although you may shudder to think of your food being so close to manure, this is in fact a brilliant, environmentally friendly way of cooking. Trees are sparse in Nepal and considered too important to burn, and so the dung of yak is dried and used as a convenient source of renewable fuel.
Hairy Bovines
The other way yaks can provide warmth is with their fur. Yak fur can grow to as much as two feet long, and might be used for clothing along with yak wool, and can also be made into ropes and sacking. It is even used to make hairy tents. The yak fur allows smoke from inside the tent to escape, while the oil in the fur keeps water from penetrating inside.
When you add up all the benefits that this local beast can offer, from transport, baggage, shelter, clothing, tools, food, drink, and fuel for heating and lighting, I am sure that you will agree that on your Everest base camp trek, the yak is more useful than a Swiss Army Knife ? by far!
Kirsty Parsons is the Marketing Coordinator for Everest Base Camp Trek, an adventure website which features the classic Everest Base Camp Trek, as well as several alternative Everest trekking routes in the Himalayan region.
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