Livestock sheds in Myagdi district have begun their annual descent from the highland pastures, known locally as buki, to the lower grazing lands called khark that lie close to village settlements. The seasonal movement has started as autumn sets in and the cold intensifies across the high Himalayan region. Cattle, buffalo, sheep and goats that had been taken up to the foothills of the Himalayas during the monsoon are now being brought down to grazing areas nearer the villages, continuing a rhythm of animal husbandry handed down through generations in the district.
Autumn cold sends the sheds downhill
With the monsoon over and the temperature falling in the upper reaches, herding families across Myagdi have started shifting the temporary livestock sheds where their animals spent the rainy season on the high pastures. According to a report by Khabarhub, the sheds have begun descending from the buki as the growing cold makes the upper grazing grounds harsher, and the animals are being moved to khark located near human settlements.
The herds and shelters on the move this season include:
- Cattle and buffalo raised by local farming households
- Sheep and goats that graze the high pastures in mixed herds
- Temporary sheds, or buki, being brought down from the high grazing grounds toward the lower khark
The movement follows the cycle of the seasons. Livestock are driven up to the buki when the monsoon opens grazing in the high hills, and they are brought back down once autumn arrives and the cold begins to bite. Reports from the district note that the sheds, which stood on the high pastures throughout the monsoon, are now starting the journey down as their owners prepare for the colder months. For now, the descent is in its early stage, with the sheds moving step by step toward the villages as the weather cools.
A herder's account from the Phagune buki
Among the households taking part in this year's migration is that of Harkabir Bika of Dhawalagiri Rural Municipality-1, Gurja. Bika said three of his animals had been kept at the buki of Phagune, the high pasture where his livestock spent the monsoon months. Livestock kept at pastures such as Phagune are among those now being brought down as the season turns.
His account reflects the routine followed by many farming families in the district, for whom the seasonal movement between pastures is an inherited practice rather than an exceptional event. Gurja is one of the settlements in Myagdi where the buki system remains woven into everyday agricultural life, and where livestock rearing continues to follow the rhythm of the pastures. The shedding of the high grounds each autumn is, for such households, as much a part of the farming calendar as sowing or harvest.
Transhumance and the keeping of an ancestral practice
The descent now under way is part of transhumance, the traditional practice of moving livestock between fixed seasonal pastures. In Myagdi, the cycle has two anchor points: the highland buki, used during the monsoon, and the lower khark near the villages, to which the animals return as autumn deepens. RatoPati reported that the mobile herds have begun coming down into the valley, a movement it framed as the preservation of the district's ancestral animal husbandry. Nagarik News, similarly, described how Myagdi's cattle sheds have started to fall toward the valley as the season changes.
The seasonal rotation can be summarised as follows:
- Monsoon: livestock are taken up to the buki on the high pastures at the foothills of the Himalayas
- Autumn: as the cold rises, the sheds begin descending toward the lower khark
- Lower khark: grazing areas close to the settlements where the animals are brought for the colder part of the year
The practice does more than follow the weather. By moving animals between pastures at different elevations, herding households make use of grazing resources across the year, and the knowledge of when to move, where to graze and how to manage the herds is passed from one generation to the next. It is this inherited system, sustained by families such as Bika's, that keeps animal husbandry alive in the villages of the district.
The descent continues
For the herders of Myagdi, the movement down from the buki marks the turn of the season. As temperatures continue to drop in the high pastures, the sheds carrying cattle, buffalo, sheep and goats will keep making their way toward the villages, and the animals will be grazed on the khark near the settlements through the colder part of the year. In carrying out this annual journey, the district's farming households are once again preserving an ancestral livelihood, one pasture at a time. }]
