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YAK

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Originally appearing in Volume V28, Page 898 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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YAK , the See also:

wild (and domesticated) ox of the Tibetan See also:plateau; a See also:species nearly allied to the bison See also:group. The yak, See also:Bos (Poephagus) grunniens, is one of the finest and largest of the wild oxen, characterized by the growth of See also:long shaggy See also:hair on the flanks and under parts of the See also:body and the well-known bushy tail. In See also:Europe a false impression of the yak is prevalent, owing to the fact that all the specimens imported have belonged either to a small domesticated breed from Darjiling, or to See also:half-breeds; the latter being generally See also:black and See also:white, instead of the See also:uniform Domesticated Yak, Bos (Poephagus) grunniens. black of the pure-bred and wild See also:animal. None of such half-breeds can compare with the magnificent half-tamed animals kept by the natives of the elevated Rupsu plateau, S. of the See also:Indus, where they afford the only means of transport by this route between Ladak and•See also:India. But even these are inferior to the wild yak, which stands nearly 6 ft. at the See also:shoulder, and is absolutely confined to the arid central plateau of See also:Tibet. Yak have the See also:great disadvantage that they will not eat See also:corn, and the large pure-bred animals will not live at See also:low elevations. The tails are used in India as See also:fly-whisks, under the name of chowris. The See also:title of " grunting ox " properly belongs only to the domesticated breed.

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