Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
yaks from fossils has been difficult. 111 An issue more relevant to conservation of wild yaks
than when they were domesticated is how. One of Diamond's principles for successful
domestication of large mammals is temperament: species that are too ferocious (even
including social herbivores that otherwise would seem good candidates, such as African
buffalo or zebras) have never been domesticated, their temperament evidently resisting,
at least to some degree, our most concerted effort to breed docility into them.
Yet wild yaks are consistently reputed to be aggressive and belligerent. There are ru-
mors—none confirmed to my knowledge—that they have been known to gore horses and
kill people. (A Kazak friend who grew up around them once advised me how to behave
if charged by a wild yak in the open grasslands where neither hiding nor escape was pos-
sible. He told me not to run, which was sensible as it was clear I could never out-distance
one. His solution, however—standing still until the attacker was quite close, then deftly
moving aside like a Spanish bullfighter before the yak could make the needed adjustment
to gore me—seemed oddly incomplete. Surely the yak might hurtle by me once, but if its
intention was clear, why would it then not simply turn around and come at me again from
the opposite direction? How long I was supposed to keep up this matador-like behavior
to save myself was never made clear.) Regardless, there is clear documentation that wild
yaks have, at times, attacked and damaged vehicles and injured people, and there is little
question that within their native habitat, they can outrun people, horses, or jeeps for that
matter, if they desire. If so, they would seem to challenge part of Diamond's theory regard-
ing domestication. Although young calves could no doubt have been captured occasion-
ally by early Tibetans, to transform them into fully domesticated animals—and domestic
yaks are no more dangerous than common barnyard cows—would-be yak breeders would
eventually have to confront this problem of the wild yak's nasty disposition.
But having frequently trekked among wild yaks (at times within a few meters' distance),
I suspect the conventional wisdom regarding their bellicose nature has been exaggerated.
Certainly, they look fearsome, particularly solitary bulls when facing a perceived threat,
horns menacingly curved forward, nostrils puffing in the thin air. But in my experience,
their ultimate response, whether a group of 200 with young calves or a single bull, has
always been the same: approach too close and they flee, usually until visual contact is
no longer possible, often over mountain passes or onto distant snowfields. When I have
remained at a sufficient distance and behaved in ways not perceived as threatening, wild
yaks have simply continued their previous behavior, wary of my presence but showing
no inclination to chase me away. (Once, having eaten my lunch during a rest stop on a
long-day solo survey hike, I noted upon rising that a huge solitary bull had been sitting,
ruminating, and no doubt fully aware of my presence the entire time, about forty meters
away but just out of my field of view.)
Surely, if cornered or chased by vehicles, it would be adaptive for yaks to eventually
turn on their pursuers. In questioning their aggressive reputation, I do not mean to suggest
that they aren't capable of defending themselves, and in so doing, causing considerable
damage. After all, almost any wild animal (and most large domestic ones, for that matter)
is fully capable of killing people under the right circumstances. But given all the avail-
able evidence, I am unconvinced that yaks constitute a counter-example to Diamond's
Search WWH ::




Custom Search