From the archive record
Yaks grazing in snow covered Himalayan mountains of Ladakh in Kashmir, India. Yak is the dominant livestock species that support livelihoods for pastoralist of the Tibetan plateau and nearby Himalayan regions. Yak is a main source of livelihood for the high altitude residents in Ladakh. Most yaks are domesticated, Bos grunniens. There is also a small, vulnerable population of wild yaks, Bos mutus. In the 1990s, a concerted effort was undertaken to help save the wild yak population. Wild yaks are found primarily in northern Tibet and western Qinghai, with some populations extending into the southernmost parts of Xinjiang, and into Ladakh in India. Small, isolated populations of wild yak are also found farther afield, primarily in western Tibet and eastern Qinghai as well as some parts of Si