A Happy Yak is a Healthy Yak

In the spring of 2009, Dr. Lance S. Fox, a veterinarian from the United States, ventured to the top of our world’s highest point, the summit of Mount Everest. While at Mount Everest base camp preparing to climb to the summit, Dr. Fox dewormed some of the Nepalese yaks used to carry equipment from the lower villages in the Khumbu region. This was made possible by the generous donation of Safe Guard® from Intervet/Schering-Plough Animal Health. Not only did Dr. Fox administer the product himself but he also taught Phurba Tashi Sherpa, an 18-time Everest Summiteer, how to administer the Safe-Guard®. This ‘yak clinic’ made possible follow-up doses to be administered approximately 6 weeks later.

In July 2009, one month after returning home to the United States, Lance  received information that of the 200 animals treated, the female yaks were making more milk! This is the reason why he has decided to go back to this region in 2011.

There are thousands of yaks living in the area but only about 2500 yaks live and work at the altitude and target area encompassed by this proposal. Veterinary care in this remote part of Nepal is almost nonexistent.

 

 

In April of 2011, Lance, along with fellow veterinarians Dr. Andrew Skidmore, Dr. Kristen Obbink, and Dr. Claire Windeyer, ventured up the Khumbu Valley of Nepal all the way to Everest Base Camp to conduct Healthy Yak clinics.  The following Sherpa villages provided the strategic backdrop for each clinic respectively:  Khumjung, Phortse, Macchermo, and Pheriche.  Almost 800 animals were dewormed which included almost two dozen ponies and a handful of village dogs.  At Pheriche we examined fecal samples, documenting that internal parasites are indeed present in the yaks and naks (female yaks).

The success of this trip would not have been possible without the assistance of the following organizations and people:  Himalayan Experience Ltd., Mountain Experience Pvt. Ltd., Mr. Russell Brice, Agriculture/Veterinary Technician Bhesh Bahadur Ghimire, Guide Ram Chandra Sunuwar, and Nima Rita Sherpa.  Enough dewormer was left at the villages for a follow-up dose to be administered approximately six weeks later and again in late summer/early fall when more yaks and naks will congregate in the lower villages. 

Because of Mr. Ghimire’s active involvement in this project my hope is to see additional product(s) donated in order to further promote the health and well-being of both the animals and Sherpa people of the Khumbu.  Stay tuned for consideration of a non-profit organization.

To see photos captured during this trip please click on Healthy Yak 2011 under the Images/Photos tab. Or click here.

Visit Lance's BLOG for to read more!

Note - While Lance is grateful for Intervet's generous donation of Safe-Guard dewormer, he is fully responsible for its use in the course of his work. Intervet is not a sponsor of his project and has not reviewed, suggested or endorsed his use of Safe-Guard in yaks.

 

Thank You!!

Thank you to all the donors who made Healthy Yak 2011 possible.  Special recognition goes out to Intervet/Schering Plough Animal Health for the product, Dr. Garrett Oetzel of the University of Wisconsin-School of Veterinary Medicine for loaning the field parasitology kits, Mr. Russell Brice of Himalayan Experience Ltd. for arranging all of the logistics in Nepal, and to my veterinary colleagues aforementioned for joining me and donating their time, money, and expertise to promote the project's success.

 

The Yaks and Lance Would Like to Thank the Following Donors for Your Generous Support:

John McMongale
Antoine Bollinger
Lincoln High School
Charles City High School
Bob and Barb Fox
Chris and Abby Giese
Linda and Doug Meddaugh
Jim Holliday
Megan Delehanty
East DePere High School
Friends of Wautoma Library
Ira and Karen Giese
Land O'Lakes AMP
Manawa School District
Mosquito Hill Nature Center
Amy Van Ess
Marité Flodrops
Mr and Mme Soland
Hortonville Middle School
Jim and Jodi Aron
Wildcat Booster Club
Mike Turba
Dr. Julie Gard
Eugene Constant
Bloomer Assembly of God
Travis Thomas
Southwest Rotary Oshkosh
Paula Meyer
Michael Bender
Karen and Ned Isaacson
Michael Ortiz
Bobbi Cunningham
Professional Business Women of Plymouth
Lauderdale-LaGrange Fire & Rescue Dept.
Jay Bartel
Ann and Steve McDonald
Minnesota Milk Producers Association
Ryan Fox and Family
Maritza Morales
Ryan Dunn
Hortonville Elementary School
Carmen and Rick Woodring
Carol and Jerry Foss
Cargill Northeast Region for Animal Nutrition
Quality Liquid Feeds

The Yak: Not Just Another Hairy Beast

The following description of yaks was taken from another website:

This shaggy beast, a sort of high-altitude cow, is the animal most often associated with the Himalaya. In mountain mythology yaks frequently served as messengers of the gods, but for Himalayan villagers, they are an indispensable part of the daily life.

In the high Himalayan valleys, most people have several means of livelihood: farming, trading, and herding sheep and yaks. Originally the yak was a wild beast which roamed the Tibetan plateau. Particularly suited for high altitude living above 3000 meters, the yak is one of the mainstays of Himalayan life. Over the centuries they have been domesticated and sometimes cross-bred by the local population, but they remain shy creatures, wary of strangers and prone to erratic behavior.

Male yaks provide the major means of transporting goods in the high-altitude Himalaya and the Tibetan plateau. They can carry up to one hundred kilograms of cargo over precarious trails and snow-filled passes.

In the mountains between Nepal and Tibet, long yak caravans are a common sight. The lead yaks are well trained animals who respond readily to their owner's commands and know the trails without faltering step-they can plow through four of unbroken snow. The respect given to the lead yak is shown by the fact that it does not carry a load like the rest of the caravan and is adorned with bells and bright red tassels. In these caravans, which can have up to fifty yaks or more, the main cargo brought from Tibet is rock salt, dried sheep meat, wool, saddle carpets, worked silver, and Chinese manufactured goods such as shoes, thermoses flashlights, and tea cups. Often these traders sell their wares in the high valleys, but if they decide to trade at lower elevations, the loads are transferred from the yaks to mules and horses. Rice, tea, sugar, kerosene, and cloth are carried on the return trip.

 

 

The females, called dri or nak, are even more productive than the males for they give rich milk, essential to the diets of the mountain people. This milk is especially tasty because of the diet of high mountain herbs; the locals say the higher the dri grazes, the sweeter the milk. In mountain areas, where the variety of food is limited, the products derived from dri milk assume great importance. The people of this region drink more tea than anywhere else in the world, thirty to fifty cups a day. This tea is not what the foreigner would expect. It is made with milk, butter, and salt, blended in a tall wooden chum. It resembles a soup more than tea, and it fortifies the people against the cold. The milk of dris is also made into cheese and yogurt. The cheese is dried in the sun or over an open fire to preserve it for the winter months when dairy products are scarce. This is called churpi, a favorite snack of mountain people.

Both yaks and dris provide a high quality wool, rich in lanolin and long of fiber. This creates a whole weaving industry of tents, blankets, ropes, and clothing. The meat of the animals is eaten fresh or more often, dried into jerky.

Yak herders are semi-nomadic people. They live in their own villages only during the cold winter months. Following the seasons and the grass, they move as often as six times a year. With the warm weather they move up the mountainsides, reaching the highest pastures in the summer. Some go up as high as 6000 meters.

The trekkers will hike by and perhaps even camp in the high summer settlements of the yak herders. The construction of these settlements varies from place to place. Some are solid stone buildings, as found in Langtang, complete with hearths, shelves, and locking doors. Others, as in the Solu district, are simple bamboo dwellings which are moved with the herd from pasture and pasture.

The herders and animals stay in the summer pasture from May to September. In this period the females give birth, thus increasing their capacity to produce the milk. Half the daily milk is left for the young, while the herders take the rest for their own needs.

With the advent of autumn, the herds are slowly moved back down. Spring is a time of festivals for the departure of the herders from their homes to the pasture above. Summer is probably the favorite season because the weather is warm and the grass and milk plentiful. Fall brings much work, for the winter fodder must be cut, dried and stored.

The number of yaks in a man's herd represents his wealth.

A yak is a substantial investment for the Himalayan dweller and an important piece of property. Yaks may live thirty years, their age is visible by the length of their horns. They mate and produce milk between the ages of three and twenty-five.

Young virile yaks often test their prowess in competitive battles over the females. These fights are fierce clashes sometimes resulting in the loser falling over a cliff or into a gorge. Yaks that have been cross-bred with cows are called dzo (male) and dzomo (female). They can live at lower altitudes and are easier to handle when carrying loads. The dzomo retains the fine milking characteristic of the dris. The visible difference between the two types of animals is very slight: dzos and dzomos are smaller and do not have the long shaggy hair falling from their flanks and sides as yaks do.

Listen for the tinkling of yak bells as you trek through the mountains, along the steep trails and through high pastures. You are hearing the age-old sound of the messengers of the gods, the sound of a way of life unique to the Himalaya.