WEST SPRINGFIELD — City officials are warning people to beware of yaks in Bear Hole Reservoir after at least one hiker was charged and chased by the animals Wednesday.

“Yes, three of them were spotted in Bear Hole,” Police Lt. Nolan Ryan confirmed.

The yak attack was reported around 8 p.m. near the Bear Hole dam. The animals at first appeared docile but when the person and the yaks were about six feet apart, things got unfriendly, according to a narrative Mayor William Reichelt posted on Facebook.

One yak put its head down, snorted and charged. The three chased the hiker onto the yellow trail toward the old restaurant, according to the narrative.

“So…we have yaks in Bearhole. Beware,” Reichelt posted in a heading above the narrative.

Animal control has been notified and has a plan to corral the animals to return them to their proper home. The animals do have ear tags and are believed to have escaped from a private owner, Ryan said.

Reichelt said they escaped from Westfield and owners have been looking for them.

Yaks are oxlike animals that are native to Mongolia and Siberia and are believed to have been domesticated in Tibet. They are usually found in higher elevations in China, Central Asia and Nepal, not in West Springfield, according to Encyclopedia Britannica.

After Reichelt posted the information on his Facebook Page, people were having a little fun with it.

One resident said: “And here we spent all that time searching for the seal in the Connecticut River! I KNEW we shoulda’ gone looking for yaks instead! Any heads up when the kangaroos will be coming?”

The comment is referring to a lost harbor seal that swam up the Connecticut River and was spotted in Holyoke and South Hadley multiple times in May.

Anthony Cignoli, a political consultant who lives in West Springfield, asked the mayor if he could keep the animals if they happen to wander into his backyard.

“I’m sorry. What?” Chicopee City Councilor Joel McAuliffe added.

West Springfield has had other encounters with non-native animals. About three years ago an about 80-pound alligator was found in the backyard of a home in the Merrick Section. The animal, whose name was Wally, had been kept for 26 years as a pet before authorities discovered it.