Context: Recently, Himalayan yak has been categorised as a food animal by Food Safety and Standard Authority of India (FSSAI).
Himalayan Yak
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Himalayan Yak is long-haired, short-legged oxlike mammal and high-altitude bovine animal.
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Majorly they are found in Tibet and India.
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In India found in - Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Himachal Pradesh and West Bengal.
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Yaks rearing is primitive, unorganised and full of hardship.
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It is reared for transportation, meat, milk, wools and dung to be used as a fertilizer in mountain regions.
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Yak’s milk has medicinal values and is nutritious, rich in fat and minerals.
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Yaks obtain water by eating snow.
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Calves are born about nine months later.
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Yak can survive in very cold temperatures up to minus 40 degrees.
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Nomadic communities rearing yak are- Changpas and Dokpas in Ladakh, Sikkim and Himachal Pradesh.
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According to census of 2019, India has 58,000 yaks.
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It has drop by 25% from livestock census in 2012.
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Decline in yak population could be due to less remuneration from yak.
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It discourages people to continue nomadic yak rearing.
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Domesticated yak is known as Bos grunniens while the wild variation is called Bos mutus.
Conservation status
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IUCN: Vulnerable
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CITES- Appendix I
- Indian WildLife (Protection) Act of 1972: Schedule II
National Research Centre on Yak: The Government of India established the ICAR-National Research Centre on Yak, in 1989 at Dirang, Arunachal Pradesh as a dedicated centre for research into yak husbandry.