Dzo

  A dzo (Tibetan མཛོ་ mdzo tso) is a male hybrid of a yak and a domesticated cow. A female offspring is known as a dzomo or zhom. In Mongolian it is called hainag (хайнаг). Alternative Tibetan spellings in English include zho and zo. As they are a product of the hybrid genetic phenomenon of heterosis, they are larger and stronger than cattle or yaks. Their purpose in Central Asian agriculture is very much analogous to that of the mule in the West, being used for heavy hauling and plowing.

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  In Nepal, yak/cow hybrids are bred using yak bulls on domestic cows or, less often, domestic bulls on yak cows. The female hybrids are fertile, the male ones are sterile and the meat is considered superior to beef.^{[citation needed]} In Nepali, the hybrid is called a khainag or the Tibetan dzo (male) / dzomo (female). A dzomo crossed with either a domestic bull or yak bull results in an ortoom (three-quarter-bred) and an ortoom crossed with a domestic bull or yak bull results in a usanguzee (one-eighth-bred). As a result, many supposedly pure yak or pure cattle probably carry a dash of each other's genetic material, respectively.

There is as well a more or less English-derived name, yakow, which is a portmanteau word, an obvious combination of the two words yak and cow.

See also

• Bovid hybrid
• Yakalo