Make room in the farmyard! Jericho the yak from the USA has the been confirmed as having the longest horns on a yak –measuring a massive 346.4 cm (136.4 in).
Jericho’s owners, Melodee and Hugh Smith were asked to look after him 6 years ago by a friend who was retiring and trusted them to give Jericho a happy and loving home.
With about 45 yaks, a horse, pig, and many more animals on their farm, Jericho was in good hands to be well cared for by the Smiths.
After the first couple of weeks of having him on the farm, Melodee knew he was special. Having kept yaks for a long time, she realized how unique his horns were.
“I knew right away when I received Jericho that his horns were exceptional. No other yak has horns even close to his size. I did try to help Jericho’s horn tips to not hurt his own body. Often, I would tape them with duct tape to protect the ends from rubbing on his neck.”
Melodee, Hugh, their friends and family were overjoyed to learn he had made it into this year’s book. As yaks are originally from Tibet, they celebrated by having 2,000 Tibetans and monks bless Jericho’s achievement.
Jericho celebrated by doing his favourite things - chewing cud and rolling around in mud puddles!
Unfortunately, Jericho died of natural causes in December, but his achievements live on and Melodee and Hugh still very proud of him.
Jericho's impressive Guinness World Records title will feature alongside thousands of others in Guinness World Records 2021, out now.
