Grasslands of the World.pdf - Disasters and Conflicts - UNEP

DANIEL MILLER
The Tibetan Steppe 325
Plate 8.16
Mongols and pack camels .
TABLE 8.8
Average livestock numbers per family in various Counties and Townships.
Administrative unit Yak Sheep Goats Horses
Shuanghu County, Tibet 18 282 107 4
Nyima County, Tibet 14 220 144 2
Amdo County, Tibet 45 189 25 4
Takring Township, Naqu County, Tibet 31 57 13 1.5
Tagmo Township, Naqu County, Tibet 30 54 11 1.5
Nyerong County, Tibet 27 46 8 1.4
Aba County, Sichuan 70 34 0 6
Hongyuan County, Sichuan 85 7 0 5
Maqu County, Gansu 46 48 0 6
Marma Twp, Maqu County, Gansu 51 71 0 6
Nyima Township, Maqu County, Gansu 46 81 0 1.8
Luqu County, Gansu
SOURCES: Interviews and Government Records.
33 65 0 2
shows herd composition for 16 counties and townships across a distance of
1 500 km from west to east. For example, in Shuanghu County of the Tibetan
Autonomous Region, yaks make up only 4 percent of livestock; whereas in
Hongyuan County of Sichuan, about 1 200 km to the east, yaks comprise 85
percent. Shuanghu is drier and the alpine steppe vegetation suits sheep and
goats . Hongyuan is wetter and vegetation is dominated by alpine meadow .
Herd compositions within a geographic area can also differ with the skills,
preferences and availability of labour. Luqu County, in southwestern Gansu, is
close to Aba and Hongyuan Counties in Sichuan and pastures are comparable,
but in Luqu the government encouraged pastoralists to raise sheep, hence it has
a much higher percentage of sheep than neighbouring counties.