The Food Safety and Standard Authority of India (FSSAI) has approved the Himalayan Yak as a ‘food animal’.
The Yak belongs to the Bovini tribe, which also includes bison, buffaloes, and cattle.
It can tolerate temperatures as low as-40 degrees Celsius.
Adapted for living at high altitudes, they have long hair that hangs off their sides like a curtain, sometimes touching the ground.
Yaks are highly valued by Himalayan peoples. According to Tibetan legend, the first yaks were domesticated by Tibetan Buddhism founder Guru Rinpoche.
They are also known as the lifeline of pastoral nomads in high altitudes of the Indian Himalayan region.
Yaks are traditionally reared under a transhumance system which is primitive, unorganised and full of hardship.
They are endemic to the Tibetan Plateau and the adjacent high-altitude regions.
The yak-rearing states of India are Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir.
