Yak: Difference between revisions

The '''yak''' ('''''Bos grunniens'''''), also known as the '''Tartary ox''', '''grunting ox''',<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Scherf |first=Beate |date=2000 |title=World Watch List for Domestic Animal Diversity |url=https://www.fao.org/3/x8750e/x8750e.pdf |journal=World Watch List for Domestic Animal Diversity |publisher=FAO |pages=653}}</ref> '''hairy cattle''',<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/animal/yak|title = Yak &#124; mammal |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica}}</ref> or '''domestic yak''', is a species of long-haired [[domestication|domesticated]] [[bos|cattle]] found throughout the [[Himalayas|Himalayan]] region of [[Gilgit-Baltistan]] ([[Kashmir]], [[Pakistan]]), [[Nepal]], [[Sikkim]] ([[India]]), the [[Tibetan Plateau]] ([[China]]), [[Tajikistan]] and as far north as [[Mongolia]] and [[Siberia]]. It is descended from the [[wild yak]] (''Bos mutus'').<ref name = MSW3>{{MSW3 Artiodactyla | id = 14200680 | page = 691}}</ref>

 

The English word ''yak'' originates from the {{bo|t=གཡག་|w=g.yag}}. In Tibetan and [[Balti language|Balti]] it refers only to the male of the species, the female being called {{bo|t=འབྲི་|w='dri}}, {{bo|t=འབྲི་|w='dri}} or {{bo|t=གནག|w=g.nag}} in Tibetan and {{bo|t=ཧཡག་མོ་|w=hYag-mo}} in Balti. In English, as in most other languages that have borrowed the word, ''yak'' is usually used for both sexes, with ''bull'' or ''cow'' referring to each sex separately.