Proceedings of The World Conference on Research in Social Sciences
Year: 2020
DOI: https://www.doi.org/10.33422/socialsciencesconf.2020.02.52
Relationship between human and livestock in the nomadic life
Buho Hoshino , Su Riga , Christopher McCarthy and Kaoru Imamura
ABSTRACT:
Nomadism is an ancient kind of human lifestyle in which people move seasonally with their livestock. Nomads refer to people and ethnic groups who live in two types of human life patterns, nomadic and settlement. The nomadic system consists of three subsystems: livestock, pastureland and nomads. The relationship between humans and livestock in the nomadic system is very different from that of settled grazing, and is closely related to the traditional wisdom of nomads and their perception of the natural environment. Using GPS satellite tracking data, this study clarifies the relationship between humans and livestock in nomadic life by comparing Mongolia, where 40 percent of the population continues to practice the nomadic way of life and indigenous people in Inner Mongolia, China, where settlement life patterns have prevailed for the last half a century. In the nomadic system, the behavior of livestock is restricted only to the home and watering point, and most of the livestock behavior is free and instinctual. However, in the settlement system, the behavior of livestock is strongly restricted by fences, and free movement is not possible. Repeated use of the narrow range will lead to the degradation of grasslands.
Keywords: Comparison of nomadic and settlement life; satellite tracking of livestock; Mongolia and Inner Mongolia; wisdom of traditional culture; livestock behavior.