This is lunch today – a yak burger. We’re sitting in the Namaste cafeteria overlooking the promenade near the Jokhang Temple Monastery in downtown Lhasa, and hunger struck.

This morning during a stroll through the market, I saw carts with raw yak meat, as well as huge tubs of yak butter, piles of yak bones and plenty of yak wool. The yak meat looked lean. It’s a staple of the local diet.

So I’m biting into the yak burger and I pronounce it tasty.

Perhaps instead of a cafeteria, this dining establishment should call itself a “yaketeria.” Or maybe some day a visiting Californian will open a branch of the fast food chain Jack in the Box. Only here it will be called Yak in the Box.

Yaks are extraordinary creatures. They have a matted shaggy coat and are seen in groups of dozens throughout Tibet. Their red blood cells are three times more numerous than in cattle and half the size, giving them ability to dwell at high altitudes. Click here to learn more.

Now, I’m suddenly having pangs of conscience. Apparently, wild yaks are under threat. Although they’ve been domesticated for more then a millennium, I’m wondering if eating domesticated yak is any problem. Time for more research.