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Herding can be characterized as a coordination game with two strategies for minimising risk: increase herd size (livestock quantity) or increase livestock body mass (livestock quality). In this paper I demonstrate that the selection of herd maximisation as a risk management strategy in the Northern parts of Norway has been influenced by a history of intra-group competition exacerbating herder conflict and lack of trust. In the South herder-farmer conflicts have increased herder coordination and trust, resulting in the selection of increasing livestock quality as the dominant risk management strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past 10 years, mobility of livestock has been portrayed as increasing the resilience of rural households in semi-arid Africa to climate change and variability. With this recognition, there has been important work characterizing livestock mobility and the barriers to it. This paper adds to this work by addressing two gaps in the literature: 1. An understanding in the variation of livestock mobility practices among communities; and 2. An understanding of rural peoples' views of the advantages and disadvantages of livestock mobility as well as the factors affecting their decisions about herd movements. A mixed-methods approach was adopted to analyze data collected by household survey and group interviews conducted in 32 multi-ethnic villages in Mali and Niger spanning the 12.5° N to 16.5° N latitudinal range. The results of regression and qualitative analyses show that: 1. A large fraction of rural households rely on livestock as part of their livelihood strategies; 2. Grazing management of a large majority of village livestock depends on movements outside of the village territory, especially during the rainy season; 3. The mobility of village livestock is not strongly influenced by the village's sociprofessional composition (farmer, herder, fisher, artisan..etc.); and 4. The prevalence of extra-village movements of village livestock (sheep and cattle) is higher in areas of higher population density. Despite the advantages of livestock mobility cited by informants, longer-distance movements are inhibited by risks associated with climatic, land-use, and sociopolitical change. Herd managers make decisions using diverse information about potential destinations with greater trust of information gathered by themselves or close kin. The implications of these findings for livestock management and policy in the region are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes increasingly individualized herding behavior after the implementation of a grazing ban policy in northern China based on empirical research in 12 pastoralist villages. The findings reveal that de-collectivization of pastureland has not necessarily led to direct changes in individual land use strategies. Instead, a wider institutional context influenced by the implementation of a grazing ban has led to more individualized herding and increased short-term considerations of profit maximization in the study area, both of which are seen to undermine the sustainable use of pastureland. Based on our observations of herder responses to privatization, the grazing ban and a short experiment with lifting the grazing ban, we propose that the special characteristics of grassland and pastoralism call for institutions that facilitate locally originated pasture land use practice (e.g., co-operative herding, self-organized management) instead of exclusive reliance on a rigidly defined private property regime focused on fixed property boundaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the responses of mobile pastoralists to a floodplain rehabilitation program in north Cameroon. From 1993 to 1999, we measured changes in number of camps and herds, and the time they spent in the 600 km2 of the Logone floodplain that was reflooded in 1994. The first year, few pastoralists anticipated the reflooding or its impact, and the increase in grazing intensity was caused by a prolonged stay of pastoralists who already used the area for transit. The following three years showed a sharp increase in the number of camps and herds, which stabilized from 1997 onwards. Overall, grazing intensity increased threefold, following the gradually recovering perennial grasslands, with no signs of overexploitation of the area. These developments closely match the ideal preemptive distribution model. We also examined how reflooding affected pastoral incursions in the Waza National Park located in the floodplain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our research examines herder livelihoods strategies in a region of the South Gobi desert that is heavily affected by both formal and informal/illegal mining and is exposed to natural hazards such as dzud (lethally severe winters) and drought. The term 'herder' encompasses a wide range of animal-related activities and households correspondingly utilize a complex range of strategies to respond to environmental, political, and socioeconomic conditions. We conducted semi-structured interviews with local herders as well as with individuals who had abandoned herding practices. We discuss how climatic factors such as dzud and drought can affect herders' livelihood decision-making, including engaging in informal/illegal mining, becoming a contracted herder or opening a small business in settlements. We also demonstrate that both social aspirations and climate-related economic vulnerability play a role in the decision to pursue alternative livelihoods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Severe snowstorms on the Tibetan Plateau, which lead to large-scale loss of livestock, are projected to increase in intensity and frequency with climate change. At the same time, political-economic and institutional changes from the 1950s to the present have altered pastoralists' ability to use various coping strategies. We take a political ecology approach to Tibetan pastoralists' vulnerability to climate change by qualitatively analyzing how the efficacy of strategies of mobility, communal pooling, storage, and covering and sheltering livestock have been transformed over time in Nagchu, Tibet. Recent government projects have focused on emergency aid and providing shelters. However, these are less effective than mobility and less important than the availability of labor power. Mobility and labor power have been reduced by development and environmental policies, as well as by larger political-economic transformations. These transformations have shifted herders' coping strategies from internal to external, increasing their reliance upon the state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The socioeconomics and the ecological impact of nomadic pastoralism were analyzed using interviews with 87 herder families and secondary information in the western Khangai, Mongolia. The pastoralists had an income above the national average for rural areas in Mongolia. Most herders continued traditional seasonal migration patterns, which involved ca. 10 moves per year over a total distance of ca. 100 km between summer and winter grazing grounds. As elsewhere in Mongolia, the number of goats owned by herders has greatly increased and cashmere has become the main source of cash income. Total livestock numbers rose considerably after decollectivization of the livestock sector in 1992, but in recent years have periodically been reduced by harsh winters, often combined with drought. Due to the high economic risk of these periodic livestock losses, many herders invest in better education for their children to enable them to migrate to the cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fact that human—large carnivore relationships tend to be full of material and social conflicts raises applied questions concerning the origin of human perceptions linked to these animals and more theoretical questions concerning the link between identification and relational processes. This study, based on ethno-ethological surveys in the Republic of Macedonia (SE Europe), aims to show that the widely contrasting species specific behavioural characteristics of brown bears, wolves and Eurasian lynx influence local perceptions of these species through the nature and frequency of their interactions with humans. It appears that a high frequency of interactions allows the relational processes to dominate, leading people to modify their actions in response to the behaviour and ecology of the species. However, the fact that the virtual absence of interactions with lynx has not prevented the construction of a particular image of the species also highlights the complexity of the relationship between the level of interactions and people’s perception about animals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is known that the relationship between humans and their animals is important for understanding many aspects of nomadic pastoralist systems, including nomadic movement. However, to date, these complex human–animal relations have not been analyzed in a way that has led to an explanatory model of nomadic movement capable of producing testable hypotheses. Based on ethnographic material collected amongst Komi and Nenets nomadic reindeer herders of the Russian Arctic, we argue that nomadic movements can be best understood as a product of the interplay that exists between animal behaviour and the herders’ skilful actions to (a) maintain herd cohesion and (b) avoid hazards, whilst deploying the minimum amount of resources (i.e., human/animal effort and use of equipment) on rounding up the herd, stopping and turning it. Ecological factors affect movement through their influence on animal behaviour, whereas non-ecological factors do so by influencing the herders’ skilful actions. We demonstrate that, based on these assumptions, it is possible to build a testable model explaining the movement of some nomadic groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pastoralists of the high Andes Mountains raise mixed herds of camelids and sheep. This study evaluates the land use of herdsmen who are confronted by both socioeconomic and climate changes in Huancavelica, central Peru. Land use/ land cover change (LULCC) was measured through satellite imagery, and pastoralists’ capacity to adapt to socioenvironmental changes was evaluated through interviews and archival research. The most dynamic LULCCs between 1990 and 2000 were large increases in wetlands and a loss of permanent ice. We conclude that the people’s responses to these changes will depend on availability of institutions to manage pastures, other household resources, and perceptions of these biophysical changes. Socioenvironmental change is not new in the study area, but current shifts will likely force this community to alter its rules of access to pastures, its economic rationales in regards to commodities produced, and the degree of dependence on seasonal wage labor. In this scenario, households with a greater amount of livestock will fare better in terms of assets and capital that will allow them to benefit from the increasing presence of a market economy in a landscape undergoing climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study documents indigenous knowledge of breeds of cattle, sheep and goats in southwestern Niger, and includes both pastoralists and agropastoralists. Our study included sheep and goats in view of the increasing importance of small ruminants in livestock production systems in the Sahel since the drought of the 1970s and 1980s. This study was carried out under the Desert Margins Program (DMP) project on arresting land degradation and the conservation of biodiversity in desert margins of sub-Saharan Africa, partly funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the attention given to social relations in the pastoral literature, the role of livestock acquisitions—additions of livestock to herds through bridewealth, exchanges, gifts, payments, and begging (requests)—in herd build up has usually been assumed to be relatively minor compared to births and relevant mostly when the need for rebuilding arises after major losses. This study is based on an unusual set of data—the reproductive histories of the female cattle, camels, and goats and sheep of 13 Ngisonyoka Turkana nomadic herders in northwestern Kenya, collected in 1987. The article reports on the means by which mothers were added to the herd and how these changed through time. The results suggest that for this population in the late 1970s and 1980s, acquisitions were not merely relevant when disaster struck, but instead were a continuously important component of herd management. The results demonstrate the crucial role of social networks in the survival of Ngisonyoka pastoralists in their non-equilibrial ecosystem. Social exchanges, such as bridewealth, provide a resource security well suited to the challenges of coping with such unpredictable environments. Researchers and policymakers are urged to make efforts to support such indigenous networks if they want nomadic pastoralists to continue their effective use of arid, marginal lands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on the process of horse breeding in Siberia. Descriptions of the reproductive process of horse-bands; Role of herders in the process; Study on the interaction between the herders and the horses.

Opinion. Discusses the importance ethnic Mongol herders in the Keerqin Sandy Lands of Northeast China place on dune sand. Information on dune sand; Details on research carried out on this issue; Reference to the preference of herders for different types of landscapes.