Lynn Wilkinson is all yak and no cattle, president of the Colorado-based International Yak Association and a fond fan of the stocky little bovines native to the Asian mountains. This is the 12th year he’s made sure that yaks are on the schedule at the National Western Stock Show, where the shaggy, droll cows and bulls still draw stares and stop passersby in their tracks.Q: The stock show calendar lists a “yak hoof trimming clinic” on Jan. 24. What’s so special about a yak’s hoof?
A: It’s no different, really, than trimming the hooves of other bovines. Yaks are native to Nepal, Tibet and western China, where soil conditions are pretty abrasive, and wear down the hoof. Here in North America, people raise yaks on sandy loam-type pasture, with nothing to wear down the hoof, so you have to trim them once in a while.
Q: How many yaks will be at the stock show this year?
A: Actually, I haven’t heard from everyone yet. The last two years, we’ve had about 35.
Q: How many yaks are there in North America?
A: We think there are 4,000 to 5,000 yaks in North America. Most of the herds are small, but some ranchers have several hundred head. The most we ever had in our herd was 16. Normally, we’d have seven or eight, a more manageable level.
Q: From a rancher’s point of view, how do yaks compare with cattle?
A: Yaks are definitely a spirited animal, compared to cattle, which tend to be dumb and docile. Yaks are real intelligent, and quick. Normally, yak calves and cows, and even the bulls, can be pretty gentle. But anybody who’s ever raised yaks keeps an eye out for the bulls. You don’t want them to feel threatened. They’ve got horns — you don’t de-horn them, unlike cattle — so what you try to develop is mutual respect. In raising yaks for the last 10 years, my wife and I have never been injured by one.
Q: Sounds like they have distinct personalities.
A: Absolutely. We had one bull for four or five years — normally, you’d replace your herd bull every two or three years, so he doesn’t breed his own daughters. This bull was the most intelligent animal we ever had. He constantly watched us, studying what we were doing and why we were doing it. One time, I was planting trees, and the herd was off at a distance. I dug the hole, put in the tree, and was backfilling and putting in water when I leaned back, and the bull was right there. His head was not 6 inches from mine, and he was looking down into that hole, figuring out what I was doing.
Q: Wow! It sounds almost like you’re describing a dog.
A: You do develop that kind of relationship with some animals, especially a bull. That’s a great big 1,300- or 1,400-pound animal, just massive, that you know could hurt you real bad, real quick and yet doesn’t. You do develop a close appreciation for them. But you don’t really want to have a yak as a pet. They need to be treated not like a human being, but like a yak.
