Yak are an indispensable part of the animal husbandry in the high mountain regions where yak are used both for transport and for their productive capabilities. In recent years, the textile industry has greatly increased its demand for yak fibre. The production of hybrids between yak and other cattle is also of great significance because of their better meat and milk production relative to that of the parental types. Yak in Mongolia share with yak elsewhere the ability to withstand periods of hunger and to make up quickly in the spring the large weight losses sustained over winter.

The actual yak grazing lands are typically above the tree line at 2 000 m in the north rising to 3 000 m in the Mongolian Altai. The dominant plant species range from grasses, e.g. Festuca spp., and Stipa spp, at lower altitudes to sedges, e.g. Kobresia spp., and Carex spp. at the higher altitudes. A precipitation of 300 mm of rain in the Chovsgol-Changai mountains and in the Altai is enough for reasonable hay production (though lower in the Altai) and perhaps quite high yields under exceptional circumstances (Lhagvajav, 2000).The grasslands are very suitable for the yak by virtue of composition and location. They provide an adequate diet from May to September and in many areas a surplus of feed above requirements for three months. From October to April there is a deficiency in nutrient availability for the animals. There is, therefore, a significant annual imbalance in the provision of fodder between the short growing season and the longer non-growing periods - accentuated by the body heat loss during the winter period. However, the arid climate allows for the natural freeze-drying of the dead herbage and this supply of feed normally lasts until the spring (Barthel, 1971) and makes it possible to over-winter the yak without supplementary feed.
The grazing ecology and climate make many demands on the yak herder and lead to a transhumance form of husbandry. With the changing seasons, the migrations normally follow a rotation starting in the valley bottom (where the animals are in the winter) and proceeding vertically to the high summer pastures only to return, in good bodily condition, to the lower ground via the autumn pastures. These rotational migrations can be accomplished by the herders without great difficulty with whole yak herds and within a traditional allotment of land for grazing. Large herds might be divided into two groups to allow for a division of labour. The first group consists of the milking and breeding females as well as the stock males. The second group is made up of the cull cows, three-year-old heifers (first insemination), young fattening stock, castrates and old yak for fattening. The second group is taken to the high alpine pastures while the first group is kept on the summer pastures at intermediate altitudes.

For over-wintering, the animals are penned in sheds or protected in fenced enclosures. In Mongolia, these enclosures are circular and made of brushwood and reeds. The possibility of enclosures using stone walls or wooden paling is being considered.
Yak population

Numerically, Mongolia comes second to China in the size of its yak population.
 
Yak are found in 13 of the provinces of Mongolia and 9 of these have 90 percent of all the yak. There are a few small herds in districts of the central and southern Gobi province. Seventy percent of the yak herds are concentrated in the Hangai and Hovsgol mountains, 29 percent in the Mongolian Altai and only about 1 percent in the Gobi Altai and Hentii mountains. The yak population works out at just under one yak for every three of the human population in Mongolia.Mongolian yak

Coat colour varies greatly, but black and brown are the predominant colours with black genetically dominant. Spotted and white animals also occur. Black, or mostly black, animals account for 68.5 percent and brown, or predominantly brown, for 16.9 percent of the total; a further 8.9 percent are mostly grey (Bat-Erdene, 1961). Ninety percent of yak of both sexes are polled.

Two types of yak can be distinguished in Mongolia, according to the area where they are raised - the Hangai and the Altai mountain yak.

Hangai yak

The large-framed Hangai yak stems from the traditional yak-keeping provinces of Arhangai, Ovorhangai, Bayanhongor and Hovosgol were yak are found on mountainous and woodland pastures at elevations of 1 800 - 3 000 m, with a dry and cold climate. The type is large and fecund and is used for transport, meat and milk. Colours vary greatly and up to 90 percent of the animals are polled. They are good at compensatory growth and rapidly regain in the spring and summer the weight losses sustained over the previous winter. A breeding station for the improvement of yak production has been in existence in the Ih Tamir district of Arhangai province since 1983. Figure 11.2.5 shows a polled yak cow suckling her calf.

Altai yak

Reproduction

It is important for the profitability of yak production that the cows should, as far as possible, calve annually. The calving interval of 215 cows, involved in one of our experiments, averaged 355.6 days (range from 299 to 442 days). The length of gestation and the inter-pregnancy interval strongly influence this parameter. For intensive reproduction, the calving interval should not exceed 365 days. Only about two thirds of the yak cows achieve this optimum annual calving interval.Young yak bulls mount each cow more often than do the older bulls, and they have a higher fertilization rate (90.7 - 96.3 percent for young bulls, compared to 76.3 - 96.8 percent for the older bulls). The adult bulls, however, serve many more cows, partly because they drive the young bulls away. These studies suggest that yak bulls should not be allowed to run with the herd in an uncontrolled way and that the number of cows per bull should be restricted to 10 - 15.Calving takes place in Mongolia from March to August, but the main period is in the months of April and May when, on average, 68.2 percent of the pregnant females calve. Also on average, calving occurs in 80.9 percent of the cows that had been mated and did not return to service. Brucella abortus and Clamydia psittaci were isolated by blood tests on cows that aborted and from aborted foetuses.There has been significant research in Mongolia on the use of technical aids to assist reproduction in yak, such as oestrus synchronization, artificial insemination and pregnancy diagnosis by hormone treatment (Magash, 1991).

Size and meat production

Yak meat has an average composition of 65.1 percent water, 19.5 percent protein, 14.5 percent fat and 0.9 percent ash. The fat content of the yak meat is lower than that from cattle in the same region. The energy content of yak meat is around 2 450 kcal per kg (Bat-Erdene, 1988).

The meat from the yak is red, or deep red, because of a high haemoglobin and myoglobin content. The muscle fibres in yak meat are thicker than those of other cattle, and there is no intermuscular fat. The subcutaneous and internal fat is yellow. In Mongolia, there is thought to be no difference in taste between yak meat and beef from cattle.

Several high-quality products are derived from yak meat. Because of the seasonal slaughter, yak meat is dried in thin slices, called Borts, which can be kept for more than a year and is carried by the herders as they move from one location to another during the grazing season.

Demand for meat is high in Mongolia and yak meat plays an important role. Nyamgerel (1999) estimated the annual production of yak meat in Mongolia at 40 000 tonnes. To achieve high meat output requires the exploitation of the far-distant summer pastures in the alpine and subalpine regions.

Meat production is highest when calves are allowed to suck their dams to the full as this maximizes calf growth. The requirements of milk production from the yak, however, demand that calves are allowed as little as possible of their dams' milk. The common practice in Mongolia is for calves to be weaned quite early and herded separately from their mothers during the milking season - apart from the presence of the calf to initiate milk let-down. The needs of meat and milk production therefore compete, but the emphasis can be varied depending on the relative value of the two products in particular circumstances. The strategy for rearing young stock so as to provide the best compromise for both meat and milk production is, as yet, unresolved.

Meat packing plants exist in the urban areas, but yak herds are normally remote from these. Opportunities for herdsmen to market their own dairy products in central markets are also limited as such markets can be as much as 1 000 km distance. The problems of marketing yak produce so as to provide herders with a better income still need resolution.

Milk production

Yak make an important contribution to the supply of milk and milk products in Mongolia. Lactation length is determined by the date of calving, as the end of milking coincides with the end of the grazing season. Early calving thus allows longer lactations, about 200 - 230 days when calving in May or June. For the sake of their calves, cows are not milked at the beginning or end of lactation, thus reducing the milk off-take to less than the potential. The main milk production period is from June to October. If an estimate of the milk taken by the calf is included, the milk yield of Mongolian yak cows varies between 560 and 740 kg


Yak cows have their highest daily milk yield in July because of the good grazing available then. Regardless of calving date, the milk production by the cow declines from September to November. Yak cows become dry around then.Also as seen for other yak rearing areas (cf. Figure 6.3), lactation yield among first calvers is only around 77 percent of the yield of cows in their third lactation. Composition of yak milk in Mongolia is similar to that shown in Chapter 6.In addition to butter and cream, cheese and yoghurt are also made. Traditionally in Mongolia, yak milk is also fermented in a leather pouch and distilled as a "milk wine" (Archi) into a clear alcoholic drink.

Other uses of the yak in Mongolia

Draught

As in other countries of central Asia, yak are sought after as pack animals in Mongolia to carry a variety of different goods over mountain passes. Yak are also used for the wagon transport in moving the herders from one encampment to the other. Yak have to carry wood, food, wool, milk and drinking water for long distances. Yak are also used in forest work to loosen heavy tree trunks. In distant mountainous regions, where other forms of transport are not available, a yak will carry 100 kg without a problem and can haul up to 150 kg on its back. The walking speed of a fully loaded yak is approximately 4 - 5 km per hour and 20 - 30 km can be covered in a day.

Fibre, skin and horn

In Mongolia, yak are shorn in the spring and between 1 310 and 1 750 g of fibre are obtained from adults, though this consists of the three components: coarse outer hair, wool and down and the proportions of these vary with age (see Chapter 6). The uses to which the fibre, hide, horn and dung are put in Mongolia are similar to their uses in China.