{"id":13871,"date":"2026-01-21T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-21T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/southwest-colorado-yaks-offer-healthy-eco-friendly-beef-alternative\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T03:41:03","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T03:41:03","slug":"southwest-colorado-yaks-offer-healthy-eco-friendly-beef-alternative","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/southwest-colorado-yaks-offer-healthy-eco-friendly-beef-alternative\/","title":{"rendered":"Southwest Colorado yaks offer healthy, eco-friendly beef alternative"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Yak
Yak ranching is becoming more popular in the United States because of the animal\u2019s low-fat meat, low carbon footprint and low-stress management. Ryan Heck, co-owner of Wilderness Farms, talks to Tory and Floyd \u2013 part of his 27-yak herd on his ranch west of Breen. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

BREEN \u2013 If one were to drive past Wilderness Farms in Hesperus and glance at the livestock, odds are they would do a double take. Instead of cows, 27 yaks graze on the tawny grasses and linger in the shade of pi\u00f1on pine and juniper trees.<\/p>\n

Their long, shaggy hair sweeps the ground and make the yaks look as if they float across the landscape as they walk. But that peaceful demeanor can change quickly: Unlike their cow cousins, yaks are half domestic and half wild. Get one mad, and they lift their tails, lower their U-shaped horns and charge whatever drew their ire (like the photographer who worked on this story).<\/p>\n

A growing number of yak ranching operations in recent years \u2013 including cosmetics influencer Jeffree Star, who runs Star Yak Ranch in Wyoming \u2013 show how the animals are becoming more popular to livestock growers in the United States and Canada.<\/p>\n

\"A
A momma yak and her baby are seen at Wilderness Farms on Friday west of Breen. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Ryan and Elise Heck, co-owners of Wilderness Farms, said they became curious about yaks in 2023. Since then, they have become a full-fledged yak ranching operation, selling meat online and at the Bayfield farmers market.<\/p>\n

Elise said their half-domestic, half-wild DNA gives yaks a few advantages classic cattle lack.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve seen them push foxes out of the pasture,\u201d she said. \u201cBecause they\u2019re wild, they\u2019ll all team up, they\u2019ll put the babies in the center and they\u2019ll push predators out of the pasture. We have to be careful with them around dogs, because they understand predators and they protect their calves very well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ryan said yaks prefer cold temperatures and often calve in winter, often right onto the snow. Within the first couple minutes of birth, baby yaks are walking, shrugging off the chill as they nurse from their mother\u2019s udders.<\/p>\n

An immigrant species<\/div>\n

According to the Livestock Conservancy<\/a>, yaks were imported to North America from Asia in the late 1800s and 1900s to be exhibited in zoos. Over the past century, their popularity with ranchers in North America has grown. American yaks are even considered their own unique subspecies because of their isolation from source populations in Asia.<\/p>\n

Karma Bhotia, owner of Durango\u2019s Himalayan Kitchen, serves two yak dishes \u2013 yak thentuk and yak korma. He said their meat is sweeter and has less fat than beef.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause of the domestic and wild mix, when you put beef and yak meat together, you will immediately notice,\u201d he said. \u201cYak is more dark, more burgundy in color and sweeter with less fat.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Bhotia grew up in Nepal but is descended from Tibetans. He said that on the Tibetan Steppe, which is an arid region where crops are hard to grow, yaks were a staple to life. Tibetans use them for transporting goods through deep snow and high mountain passes, use their milk for cheese or butter, and eat their meat. They even use their dung, which they dry and burn for heat.<\/p>\n

\u201cYaks are very meaningful for people who live in Himalayan region in many ways,\u201d Bhotia said. \u201cI\u2019m a Nepalese but a Tibetan decent of Nepali. My background is with the Tibetan or Sherpa or Bhotia communities. We are connected with the yak meat.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said many Hindu Nepalis don\u2019t eat yak meat because they believe cattle are sacred. But Tibetans, a largely Buddhist group, rely on their meat because other foods are hard to come by.<\/p>\n

\"Ranger
Ranger the yak at Wilderness Farms west of Breen is one of 27 in the herd. Yaks originated in the Himalayan region of Asia and are suited to cold, harsh, high-elevation environments. They were introduced to North America a century ago, and in the time since have become genetically distinct to their Asian ancestors. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Bhotia was not always a restaurateur. He worked as a Sherpa guiding climbers up some of the world\u2019s tallest peaks in the Himalaya before immigrating to the United States in 2001. He said a friend encouraged him to start a Nepali and Tibetan restaurant there since he had experience working as camp chef on several mountain expeditions.<\/p>\n

His first restaurant was in California. As he was thinking about how to make a unique offering to his new American audience, Bhotia was surprised to learn that American ranchers were raising yaks, and he started buying yak meat from one in Montrose.<\/p>\n

In 2008, Bhotia traveled to Durango to scope out a new restaurant and meet the yak farmer. He fell in love with the town, and later found out there were several yak farmers in the immediate area from which he could buy yak meat.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we got here, we arrived one in the morning,\u201d he said. \u201cWe slept in the hotel, and (in the) morning I saw a mountain, I saw a river, I saw a small town, and said, \u2018Wow, yes, this the place I was looking for and we should buy this business.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Bhotia said he felt a responsibility to buy ingredients for his restaurant from local, small producers in the community. As the number of yak ranchers grew over the years, he said he was able to consistently have locally raised yak on the menu, lending to a more culturally authentic dining experience.<\/p>\n

An eco-friendly beef alternative?<\/div>\n

To the Hecks, raising livestock at Wilderness Farms in an eco-conscious way is central to their operation. Yaks, they have found, offer a way to do just that.<\/p>\n

Ryan said he does rotational grazing with his yaks, goats and chickens, which increases the biodiversity of his pastures and improves soil health. Additionally, yaks are smaller than cattle. That means they do not compact the soil as much, which, according to a Colorado State University study<\/a>, increases ground water runoff and decreases soil health.<\/p>\n

\"A
A yak horn at Wilderness Farms west of Breen. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u201c(Yaks are) just not as heavy, and they don\u2019t quite compact the ground as much just because they weigh less,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He said a full-grown female yak weighs around 600 pounds, while a male can weigh up to 1,500 pounds. Beef cattle, on the other hand, weigh in at 1,300 pounds for the cows and 2,000 pounds for the bulls.<\/p>\n

An Oxford American study<\/a> titled \u201cInsights into the merits and market potential of yak meat,\u201d found that yaks produce less methane than cattle \u2013 a greenhouse gas more potent than carbon dioxide. The study concluded that yak meat is a more environmentally friendly meat alternative than beef.<\/p>\n

\"Ryan
Ryan Heck, right, and his wife, Elise Heck, co-owners of Wilderness Farms, and partner Chris Chisim look over the momma yaks and their babies on Friday on their ranch west of Breen. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Elise found yak to be the only meat she could eat without getting indigestion when she was pregnant.<\/p>\n

Yak meat is not that much more expensive than grass-raised beef. Ryan said his ground yak costs $11 per pound, while the beef alternative is $9 per pound, according to a quick Google search.<\/p>\n

Additionally, the North American Yak Association says<\/a> that yak meat is \u201csilky\u201d in texture, \u201chigh in protein and very low in fat,\u201d low in cholesterol and has lots of Omega 3 fatty acids.<\/p>\n

\"Long
Long hair on a yak at Wilderness Farms on Friday west of Breen. Yak hair is used to make clothing, another use for this ornery Asian bovine. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Elise said their yak farm is still growing, but that learning how to live with the quirky animals has been fun. With two young children, she said, they hope to raise a family of Southwest Colorado yak ranchers.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re still learning, but we just love them,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019re hoping to get to a point the boys love it.\u201d<\/p>\n

sedmondson@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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