I love animals, and I’ve been thinking about getting an exotic pet for a while. I’ve had a boa constrictor before, that didn’t do too much for me. [<–honest, there’s no intentionally hidden euphemism in there]. I want something weirder. Right now, I’m thinking, I want a yak. Yaks are pretty damned cool, yeah…let’s go the yak route. So…does anyone know a). (first and foremost) if it’s legal to have one b). where I could obtain one/how much they cost/what they eat, etc. c). how yaks behave in captivity. (I don’t want a yak if it’ll be an unhappy yak).
Yaks are domesticated, and have been for a long time. However, they are big frickin’ animals. The milk is delicious and cheese awesome. You need to live somewhere very cool and probably at high elevations as these suckers have adapted to life on the Tibetan plateau. You can also saddle up and ride them, and in fact in Tibet they are preferred over horses when there is a lot of snow. Yaks also make good pack animals.
I’ve seen lots of 5-6 year olds manhandle yaks, so they are reasonably tame.
Read up on Tibet as Yaks are the lifeblood of the nomads. Supplying them with food, meat, milk, shelter (skins), transportation, etc.
Somebody in Western Canada, I think Alberta, has a yak ranch from which you can buy a yak if you have an appropriate place to keep it. Maybe one of our WesCan posters can dig up a bit more dirt on the place.
I’d recommend a Highland Cow ( or as an acquaintance of mine refers to them - a Highland Coo ). Very shaggy and Yak-like, but with the added attraction of being bright orange and mooing loudly ( always entertaining ) :).