- Where to see one
- 5 U.S. zoos in our directory hold domestic yak, confirmed against each zoo's own animal list.
Conservation status
Not Evaluated
This species has not been assessed for the IUCN Red List, so it sits outside the threat scale entirely.
About the domestic yak
The domestic yak is a long-haired, heavily built bovine kept across the Himalayan region, the Tibetan Plateau, Tajikistan, the Pamirs and as far north as Mongolia and Siberia. It descends from the wild yak. Dense, shaggy hair and a woolly undercoat insulate it, and larger lungs and hearts than lowland cattle suit it to high altitude, though it overheats above about 15 C. Yaks graze mainly on grasses and sedges. For thousands of years herders have kept them for milk, fibre, meat and as pack animals, and their dried dung is an important fuel on the treeless plateau.
Domestic Yak facts
- Yaks grunt and squeak rather than low like cattle.
- Yaks eat about 1% of their body weight daily, while cattle need about 3%.
- Calves can walk about ten minutes after birth.
- Dried yak dung is often the only fuel on the high, treeless Tibetan Plateau.
Where to see domestic yak in the U.S.
5 zoos across 5 states
Find the closest one
Rank the 4 zoos holding domestic yak by how far they are from you. Your location is used in your browser to sort this list and is never sent to us.
1 more zoo holds domestic yak but has no coordinates on file yet, so it isn't ranked here. It's in the full list below.
Alaska· 1
Kansas· 1
North Carolina· 1
Ohio· 1
South Dakota· 1
AZAThe Association of Zoos and Aquariums. Accredited members have passed an independent inspection of animal care and welfare, safety, conservation and education, repeated every five years. Many smaller facilities never apply, so “not accredited” isn't a verdict on its own. What accreditation means · How we check this
Built from each zoo's own published animal list.
