Yak, an animal of the ox tribe, found only in Tibet, Asia. It is found wild and is the ordinary domestic animal of the inhabitants of that region, supplying milk, food and raiment, as well as serving as a beast of burden. The size is that of a small ox. The horns are long, nearly cylindrical, smooth and pointed at the ends, and they have a peculiar and characteristic curve. Some of the domestic yaks are hornless. Their most remarkable external characteristic is the excessive growth and peculiar distribution of the hair. The upper parts of the body and sides are clothed with a thick, soft, woolly hair, more fully developed along the middle of the back, especially on the shoulders, where it forms a great bunch. From the upper parts of the limbs and the whole of the lower surface of the body hangs a thick growth of long, straight hair, in old animals sweeping the ground and almost concealing the somewhat short legs. The tail is profusely covered with a thick mass of such hairs. The wild animals are nearly uniformly black; the domestic yaks are often quite white. The silky and tough hair and the skins are often used in the manufacture of caps, coats, blankets and ropes.