The wild yak has a dense undercoat of soft, close-matted hair which is covered by generally dark brown to black outer hair. Its long, shaggy coat reaches almost to the ground.
Wild yaks (Tibetan: drong) can weigh up to 1,200 kg (2,400 lb). They usually form groups of between 10 and 30 animals. Their habitat is treeless uplands like hills, mountains and plateaus between 3,200 m (10,500 ft) and roughly 5,400 m (18,000 ft).
Wild Yaks are usually black while domestic Yaks come in a variety of colors from dirty white to brown. Adult Yaks reach the length of up to 330 cm, and their shoulder height is about 200 cm. Yaks weigh about 1000 kg.
The wild yak was once numerous and widespread on the entire Tibetan plateau north of the Himalayas. Wild yak distribution is highly clumped, with most animals in widely scattered herds, concentrated in the areas with little disturbance by humans.
The wild yaks color is dark brown marked with black while the domesticated yak is smaller and maybe black brown, or reddish, also piebald and even albino.
Status
: Wild yak CITES 1. The wild yak is ENDANGERED.
The domestic yak is protected by man and their status is COMMON.
Zoo Diet
: Herbivore ruminant cubes, timothy hay, cattle mineral, cobalt iodized and trace mineralized salt blocks.
A Real Yak: Wild yaks (subspecies B. g. mutus) stand about two meters tall at the shoulder and weigh 1,000 kg (2,200 lb). They usually form groups of between 10 and 30 animals.
Ecology and Behavior Due to the scarcity of vegetation in their habitat, wild yaks must travel great distances in order to obtain sufficient nourishment.
Wild yaks were formerly found from Kashmir to W China, but were so extensively hunted for meat and hides that they now survive only in isolated highlands at elevations above 14,000 ft (4,300 m).
Domesticated yaks are abundant, but the larger wild yak is endangered. Once widely distributed in the high valleys and plateaus of Tibet and the adjoining mountain country, the yak was decimated by hunting, surviving in scattered, ...
Although there is a large domestic population of yak, there are only a few wild yak remaining . The yak is still used in many parts of central Asia, for pulling heavy farm machines and transporting large loads through the mountain passes.
The Tibetan Plateau shelters a wide array of unique species, including the Tibetan antelope, Tibetan gazelle, wild yak, blue sheep, snow leopard, brown bear, Bengal tiger and black-necked crane.
But even these are inferior to the wild yak, which stands nearly 6 ft. at the shoulder, and is absolutely confined to the arid central plateau of Tibet.
 See also: Yak, Cattle, Grunt, Antelope, Bat
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