High plateau: its breeds
The yak of Tibet, the cattle of the Ethiopian highlands and the Andean criollo: thin air and cold nights.
On the high plateaus of the world the air is thin, nights are cold and the growing season is short. The Tibetan plateau, the Changthang of Ladakh, the Mongolian uplands, the Ethiopian highlands and the Andean altiplano each hold herds that have adapted to this life. The yak is the great animal of the highest ground, comfortable at altitudes where ordinary cattle struggle. Lower down, the zebu and taurine cattle of the Ethiopian highlands and the criollo cattle of the Andes show how far cattle have gone to fit their country.
The yak
The domestic yak lives mostly between about 3,000 and 5,500 metres. It has a large heart and lungs, a thick outer coat over a soft down, and few sweat glands, so it handles cold and thin air well but suffers in heat. Herders on the Tibetan plateau, in Mongolia, Bhutan, Nepal and Ladakh use it for milk, butter, meat, hair, hide, dung fuel and transport. Butter churned from yak milk lights lamps in monasteries and goes into salted butter tea. Most of the world's yaks live in China.
Yak and cattle crosses
Where yak country meets cattle country, herders cross the two. In the Himalaya the male cross is called dzo and the female dzomo, and in Mongolia the cross is the khainag. The female crosses give more milk than a yak and live higher than a cow; the males are usually sterile and are used for ploughing and carrying loads. In Ladakh and Bhutan, the right mix of yak, dzomo and cattle on a farm depends on how high the family's fields and pastures lie.
The Ethiopian highlands
Ethiopia has the largest cattle population in Africa, and much of it lives on the highlands above 1,500 metres. Highland farmers still plough with a pair of oxen and a wooden plough, the maresha, and the ox is central to the household. Local breeds such as the Horro of the western highlands, and the many small zebu of the north and centre, are used for draught, milk and meat. Grazing is often on common land and on the stubble after harvest.
Andes and the cost of altitude
Cattle reached the Andes with the Spanish, and criollo cattle descended from them still graze high valleys in Peru and Bolivia. Cattle taken to altitude from the lowlands can develop high-altitude pulmonary hypertension, which ranchers in the Rocky Mountains call brisket disease, because the heart has to work harder against the lungs. Herds born and bred high, over many generations, tend to cope far better, which is one reason highland herders value their own stock over imported animals.
Worth knowing
- Domestic yak: The cattle of the Tibetan plateau and the Himalaya
- Dzo and dzomo: Yak and cattle crosses of the Himalaya
- Ladakhi cattle: Small, cold-hardy cattle of Ladakh
- Horro: Zebu cattle of the western Ethiopian highlands
- Changthang: High plateau of Ladakh grazed by yak and herders
- Andean criollo: Spanish-descended cattle of the high valleys
Good to know
- Bring lowland cattle up slowly, and watch for swelling at the brisket.
- Yaks need shade or cooler ground in summer; they tolerate cold far better than heat.
- Store hay or straw for the long winter; high pastures give little after the first snow.
Sources and further reading
Original text by the EveryCow desk, written with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. Customs are described as tradition, not as advice. If we have something wrong, tell us.
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