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Yaks to the Nepali's are like cars to most
people. They use Yaks for everything. The Nepalese people in the
mountains and outside of the main towns get their milk from Yaks
which can be used to make a variety of dairy products. In addition these
animals produce their fuel,
wool for clothing and are transportation. Disturbing a Yak is not to be
taken lightly. Yaks are sacred in the mountains.Yaks are larger and
stronger then domestic cattle and they are adapted to the extreme
elevations.
Some of their adaptations are their heavy
coat, few sweat glands, and their red blood cells are about half the
size of other bovines, which allow them to pack in more unit of blood
volume. It was common to see Yaks on the trail carrying supplies, and
sometimes even people. We saw |
one Yak that was carrying a sick person, he probably had altitude
sickness. Oh wait, maybe that was me. At the higher elevations the Yaks
roam freely.Herding Yaks can be quite dangerous especially on the narrow bridges
that cross the rivers. Our porter's sister was killed the month before
by a Yak that kicked her off one of those high bridges. We also saw a
Yak try to kick someone and it ended up getting one of its feet stuck
between the slats of the bridge. As it was struggling to free itself it
twisted and broke the bottom portion of its leg. Some porters had to
help pull and push on the Yak to get it across the bridge to the other
side. With a broken leg that Yak would soon become a family's barbecue.
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