Abstract
The transhumant sheep production is traditional farming system adopted by the herders of the Kanchenjunga Conservation Area (KCA) of Nepal. A rapid field survey by was organized in the KCA of Nepal in order to know the basic of transhumant sheep production in the focus group discussion (FGD), it was learned that the current number of herders and sheep population were sharply declined since the last two decades in KCA. Among the problems identified, conflict of sheep herders due to grazing overlap with the yaks and chauries at high altitude summer pastures, farming systems overlap at low altitude in winter, and the legal conflict between the conservation area management and the sheep herders were prominent. The rapidly growing commercial cultivation of cardamom in suburb of villages at low altitude areas (<2000 m) restricted the sheep migration during winter and, the net benefit gained through transhumant sheep herding was often lower than that of cardamom cultivation. This study would provide the base for future experiments on transhumant sheep production. In general, the scope of transhumant sheep production in view of livelihood of the shepherds were discussed briefly in this case study. Key words: Transhumance system, grazing route, alpine pasture, Baruwal sheep, conservation area.
Highlights
The transhumance system is characterized by the seasonal movement of livestock to high altitude alpine pastures for grazing in summer and progressive downward movement and lying at mixed forest areas in winter (Dong et al, 2009a)
Among the total sheep population available in the country, 60% of them are reared under the transhumance system (LMP, 1993) and Baruwal sheep is one of the important native sheep breeds of Nepal kept in transhumance as a multipurpose small ruminant (Wilson, 1997; Joshi et al, 2004)
The sheep herders move their flocks upward in early summer for utilizing the alpine pasture and downward in late autumn/early winter to protect their herds from winter cold weather at high altitude
Summary
The transhumance system is characterized by the seasonal movement of livestock to high altitude alpine pastures for grazing in summer and progressive downward movement and lying at mixed forest areas in winter (Dong et al, 2009a). Among 17 different livestock species reared in Nepal, sheep are one of the important ruminant species for livelihood (Wilson, 1997). Transhumant sheep farming is a traditional practice in the northern high altitudinal regions of Nepal (Joshi et al., 2004). Among the total sheep population available in the country, 60% of them are reared under the transhumance system (LMP, 1993) and Baruwal sheep is one of the important native sheep breeds of Nepal kept in transhumance as a multipurpose small ruminant (Wilson, 1997; Joshi et al, 2004). The sheep herders move their flocks upward in early summer for utilizing the alpine pasture and downward in late autumn/early winter to protect their herds from winter cold weather at high altitude. The questions concerning the livelihood and traditional migratory sheep herding were further elaborated together with the shepherds
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