As cold intensifies, Bajura's sheep and Tehrathum's yak-chauri herds head downhill

As the cold has begun to intensify, sheep herders in Bajura and yak-chauri-rearing farmers in Tehrathum's border areas have started moving down to lower elevations with their livestock.

In Bajura, sheep pens have been shifted downward after snowfall in the high Himalayan region, following rain in the second week of Kattik, raised fears of a shortage of grazing land. Suman Thapa of Budhinanda Municipality-9 has set off with his family and 200 sheep toward Gaila in Achham, via the Sanfe-Martadi road section, and said he will stay in the lower areas until around Chaitra-Baishakh. This practice of moving sheep downhill in winter has continued in Bajura for generations.

In the east, yak-chauri pens have been brought down from Nundhaki and the upper parts of Madi in Sankhuwasabha, as well as from the high areas of Shreejung and Morahang in Tehrathum. The grazing grounds of Milke, Jaljale and Topkegola, where the bells of yak-chauri and the voices of herders could be heard until a few months ago, are now becoming empty.

Herders move their pens downhill because snowfall makes grazing difficult, water sources freeze, and cold winds blow.

According to the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology's forecast, light rain or snow is likely today at one or two places in the Himalayan and hilly areas of Karnali and Sudurpashchim provinces, and in the Himalayan areas of Koshi, Bagmati and Gandaki.