 New Zeeland farmers are experimenting
with cross-breeding their dairy cows with Mongolian yaks.
Thirty farmers in Taranaki,
New Zeeland had cows inseminated with yak semen. As a yak’s gestation
is 25 to 30 days shorter than a cow, most of the inseminated cows gave
birth two to four weeks earlier than normal.
Local farmers and their families
have shown great interest in the cow-yak offsprings.
"In four weeks, it had
fully caught up with a dairy calf. But it is more like a yak, with bigger
volume but shorter legs. We had a Friesian the same age that stands
taller. The yak is like a drum on short legs," Mrs. Christiana
McIntyre told the Taranaki Daily News.
"They are affectionate,
intelligent, inquisitive and very active. While a dairy calf will sit
down for a sleep, the yak is more aggressive it wants a feed. Farmers
say they are wonderful to rear.
"A lot of farmers are
keeping them."
The McIntyres' heifer has been
sent to Stoney Oaks Wildlife Park at Inglewood. The calf is described
as having a bushy tail a bit like a possum.
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