Commitment to Preservation of Pedigree and Protection of Genetic Integrity
WHYC Position Statement: Commitment to Preservation of Pedigree and Protection of Genetic Integrity
Dear North American Yak Herders,
We write to you today with the intention of affirming our commitment to the preservation of yak pedigree and protection of genetic integrity.
The World Heritage Yak Conservancy (WHYC) is a collaboration of yak breeders, researchers and conservationists to create a species association with a strong commitment to preserving the exceptional pedigree of the North American Heritage Yak Registry (NAHYR) and protecting the genetic integrity of our North American yak herd. This is reflected by our strong Mission Statement, Code of Ethics, and By-Laws.
WHYC has an exceptional yak herd with an exceptional genome - this is a testament to the careful breeding practices of our founding members and the original yak herders. We are committed to protecting this genetic integrity and accept the responsibility to continue to maintain these rigorous and successful Best Practices for breeding, to learn and teach them to new WHYC members, and defend this commitment through our association's Code of Ethics, as well as it's Missions Statement and By-laws.
Our early pioneering of modern genetics research is another important way we preserve pedigree and protect genetic integrity. Every piece of the testing ability currently available at GeneSeek for Tibetan yak was created, funded and developed by members of our Team. No other association has these capabilities . WHYC has the most comprehensive cutting edge genetic testing and state of the art research.
We seek to empower yak breeders with genetic insight and more powerful tools for better breeding decisions. In 2020, other associations began this yak genetics research in conjunction with Dr. Michael Heaton of the USDA. Employed by IYAK, the state-of-the art genetic testing company, GeneSeek, developed a research protocol that provides relevant raw data. In 2016, membership voted to improve IYAKs genetic testing ability by moving our testing to GeneSeek. As of 2019, IYAK began analyzing this data and providing these results to yak breeders as a part of registration with no additional fees required. We appreciate and value IYAKs past genetics efforts and support their continued progress in this arena.
We value the current testing which allows us many opportunities to reinforce and support our commitment to preservation of pedigree and protection of genetic integrity. We can now consistently and effectively identify hybrids and exclude these animals from registration. We can now identify and quantify inbreeding in our yak by reporting the Coefficient of Inbreeding (COI). We can also consistently and effectively identif diseases and cattle mutations and provide better herd management (as in BVD reporting), or exclude these animals from registration (as in Prion disease, Madcow). In the future, we hope to see IYAK BOD continue to support researchers as they develop more comprehensive and reliable genetic tools.
Sincerely,
Nicole Porter, IYAK BOD member, Genome Committee Chair
Daniel Salvato, Membership Committee Chair
Larry Richards, IYAK Founding member, Vice-president 2019, RegComm Chair, past Genome Chair
Steve Hill, IYAK BOD member
Mark Priest, IYAK BOD 2020
Lynette Priest, A Yak or 2
Jandy Sprouse, IYAK President emeritus, Lifetime Member
Brad Sprouse, Lifetime Member
Boyd Meyer, Founding Member, Thunder Ridge Yaks
Caden Meyer, Thunder Ridge Yaks
Jim Watson, IYAK President emeritus, Founding, Lifetime member
Diane Latona, IYAK Founding Member BOD emeritus, History Committee
Lynda Ghering, IYAK Founding Member, BOD emeritus
Sandra Matheson, IYAK Heath Science Committee msg
Scott Martin, MTA Ranch
Jim Meidema, Goat Trax Farm
Barbara Meidema, Goat Trax Farm
Michelle Steiner, High Prairie Yaks msg
Cynthia Phillips, Mystic T Ranch
Joe Philips, Mystic T Ranch
Phillip Reschke, PhillBilly Farms
Ron Rudkin, Rudkin Yak Ranch
Mike Schwartz, IYAK President emeritus msg