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Yak

Bos Poephagus Grunniens

The origins

The yak, although belonging to the Bovids or Bovoids and therefore to the ungulates, however, constitutes a species in its own right. In the wild yak the color of the coat is mainly black and brown with a white spot on the muzzle, the domestic one can be black, gray, white.

ANNUAL PRODUCTION: 3 million kilos in China and Mongolia.

The natural habitat

The typical habitat of this animal is represented by the high mountains of the Himalaya chain, where the farms are located from 4000 meters upwards, as well as Tibet, of the Pamir plateau, in Central Asia, Mongolia, Kyrgyzstan, from Tadzikistan, Altai, etc.

Features

The coat is very thick and, in winter, an abundant undercoat or wad is also formed. The duvet is particularly abundant and fine in the one year old calf (15-17 mic). In adults it has a diameter of 18-19 mic and is 3-3.5 cm long.

The manufacture

The hair is collected in the spring, at the beginning of the transhumance and with the shedding; it is obtained by collecting the masses that spontaneously detach or by rubbing the belly, shoulders and hips. With the wad, brown and dark brown suitable dehaired, you get very fine fabrics and blankets almost like cashmere.