Description
The yaks are long-haired humped bovid, a multipurpose animal that can survive in a low oxygen and cold environment at an elevation of 2000 to 6000 meters above sea level. The animal has the ability to graze diverse foliage from coarse shrubs to short grasses. The majority of yak population is still living in central Asian highlands, which include parts of Tibet, China, Indo-Pak. Yak rearing in Pakistan is bounded to higher elevations (3,500–4,500 meters a.s.l) of Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) and Chitral, where yak is important and places the only means of livelihood through theprovision of milk, meat, and wool, hairs and hides. The GB region of Pakistan has an estimated population of 25,000 yaks and more than 100,000 yak hybrids. Yaks and yak hybrid population showed an increasing trend in GB region over the past fifteen years, but yak husbandry in the region has yet to become an economically viable activity. In previous studies where grazing and rangeland management, feeding, breeding, diseases and health hazards management were altered and reviewed lines of the literature directed our attention towards some neglected aspects of yak husbandry at GB region in comparison to other highland highlighted. The prime issues faced by yak husbandry and the yak-raising communities in GB region include low productivity, lack of grazing and rangeland management, demarcation and closure of borders (restrictions on grazing in trans-border pastures), unplanned breeding, poor disease management, lack of veterinary and extension services, lack of markets for yak produceas well as subsequent workforce. In addition, yak husbandry can be transformed into generally acceptable, environmentally favorable and economically viable agropastoral business by these highland dwellers by improving the productivity of yak and their crossbreeds, promoting sustainable rangeland management, enhancing the forage productivity of the available pasture, improving marketing conditions and developing value chains for yak meat, wool, hair and hides. That could be best achieved by strengthening the veterinary services, improving breeds and building the awareness and capacity among the herders. More focused research and studies are needed on ongoing changes in yak-farmers’ livelihood strategies that perfectly analyze the past and the present socioeconomic importance of yak keeping. Finally, such studies on the economic contribution of the yak to household income and the respective effects of different yak management approaches will help to formulate policies aiming at sustaining the poor communities of Gilgit-Baltistan.
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Yak (Bos grunniens): The Mammal of Socio-Economic Importance in Gilgit- Baltistan, Pakistan
The yaks are long-haired humped bovid, a multipurpose animal that can survive in a low oxygen and cold environment at an elevation of 2000 to 6000 meters above sea level. The animal has the ability to graze diverse foliage from coarse shrubs to short grasses. The majority of yak population is still living in central Asian highlands, which include parts of Tibet, China, Indo-Pak. Yak rearing in Pakistan is bounded to higher elevations (3,500–4,500 meters a.s.l) of Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) and Chitral, where yak is important and places the only means of livelihood through theprovision of milk, meat, and wool, hairs and hides. The GB region of Pakistan has an estimated population of 25,000 yaks and more than 100,000 yak hybrids. Yaks and yak hybrid population showed an increasing trend in GB region over the past fifteen years, but yak husbandry in the region has yet to become an economically viable activity. In previous studies where grazing and rangeland management, feeding, breeding, diseases and health hazards management were altered and reviewed lines of the literature directed our attention towards some neglected aspects of yak husbandry at GB region in comparison to other highland highlighted. The prime issues faced by yak husbandry and the yak-raising communities in GB region include low productivity, lack of grazing and rangeland management, demarcation and closure of borders (restrictions on grazing in trans-border pastures), unplanned breeding, poor disease management, lack of veterinary and extension services, lack of markets for yak produceas well as subsequent workforce. In addition, yak husbandry can be transformed into generally acceptable, environmentally favorable and economically viable agropastoral business by these highland dwellers by improving the productivity of yak and their crossbreeds, promoting sustainable rangeland management, enhancing the forage productivity of the available pasture, improving marketing conditions and developing value chains for yak meat, wool, hair and hides. That could be best achieved by strengthening the veterinary services, improving breeds and building the awareness and capacity among the herders. More focused research and studies are needed on ongoing changes in yak-farmers’ livelihood strategies that perfectly analyze the past and the present socioeconomic importance of yak keeping. Finally, such studies on the economic contribution of the yak to household income and the respective effects of different yak management approaches will help to formulate policies aiming at sustaining the poor communities of Gilgit-Baltistan.
