Talking Yak
What is a yak? Distinguished by handlebar horns and long hair, this high-altitude bovine cousin of the cow grazes across the grasslands of the Tibetan Plateau. With three times the lung capacity of typical cows, yaks take in stride the thin air, rugged terrain, and harsh weather of Tibet—with frigid winter temperatures that can dip below zero—and have subsisted for thousands of years on a meager diet of grasses and sedges.
Yak attacks: Though the yak is mighty, it isn’t invincible. As recently as half a century ago, a million or so wild yaks roamed the Tibetan Plateau. Today the International Union for Conservation of Nature puts the global population at under 10,000 wild yaks—in other words, officially vulnerable to extinction—due to poaching, habitat loss, and interbreeding.
Home on the range: Historically, yaks were essential to the survival of the people of the Tibetan Plateau, much like bison were to American Indians. It is believed that ancient Qiang herdsmen domesticated yaks some 10,000 years ago. Sturdy and sure of foot, these ultimate pack animals can cross high mountain passes carrying heavy loads of up to 150 pounds and are sometimes called the “boats of the plateau.”
Tea time: Po cha, or Tibetan butter tea, is not for the squeamish—then again, nothing about a nomad’s life on the “roof of the world” is. Yak butter and milk as well as salt are added to a special black tea from Pemagul to make the soupy traditional drink, which fortifies against the thin, cold air of the Himalaya Mountains. Some Tibetans are said to sip the high-calorie tea all day long, though that’s mostly restricted to nomads of the higher plateaus above 17,000 feet. The energy boost from traditional butter tea so captivated one Western traveler, Dave Asprey, that he returned from Tibet and formulated Bulletproof Coffee, a buzzy brand that combines grass-fed butter with coffee.
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