Vol. 11, Issue 12 (2022)

Author(s):
Akeel Yousf Wani, AA Khan, H Hamadani, IU Sheikh, MT Banday, AH Akand, S Shanaz and SH Baba

Abstract:
Yaks (Bos grunniens) have been an irreplaceable part of nomadic pastoralists of Ladakh and adjacent areas of Central Asia for centuries. Yaks not only provide these pastoralists with their basic needs in the form of food (milk & meat), dung for fuel, hides and hairs for clothing, as beasts of burden and transportation but they also help sustain the rural environment in these tundra deserts by leaving a very little ecological footprint. The present study was taken up with an objective to assertion the population and breeding status of yaks and it’s crosses in the Ladakh region. As it was observed through studies that since few decades, the dependence on yaks has declined as a result of several factors including lack of quality breeds for breeding, insufficient pastureland, and socio-economic development. This paper tries to describe the earlier and present trends in yak populations and breeding of yaks. In the present study it was revealed that yak population in both areas under study were showing a declining trend with youth being attracted towards the other job opportunities and that the yak breeding practices that were being followed were the traditional ones resulting in increased inbreeding within the population.