http://www.lonelyplanet.com/kyrgyzstan/images/summer-yurt-kochkor-kyrgyzstan$19296-31#content Picture of Family by yurt ================== http://www.odi.org/sites/odi.org.uk/files/odi-assets/publications-opinion-files/5415.pdf Transhumance The base camps or fixed settlements of most herders are located in the narrow valleys in the low mountains (1000–2000m). During the spring and autumn seasons animals are generally kept near the sheepfolds in the middle or lower elevation areas (Figure 2). They are grazed during the day but are brought home at night, as predators are fairly common in the highlands. Transhumance consists of: 1 A settled period in winter camps, when animals graze (grasses and shrubs) along the river valleys below the forest zone, and are fed supplementary feed in sheepfolds (November – mid April). 2 Spring migration to the summer pasture (jailoo) above the tree zone. 3 A short stationary period in the early summer pasture (June – mid July). 4 Migration in the summer (highland) pasture during July and August. 5 Slow migration over improved fall pasture until mid October. 6 Rapid migration back to winter camps. ====================== http://www.fao.org/ag/agp/agpc/doc/counprof/kyrgi.htm Kyrgyzstan Pasture/Forage Resource Profiles =============== https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agriculture_in_Kyrgyzstan Wikipedia: Agriculture in Kyrgyzstan Transhumance is the seasonal movement of people with their livestock between fixed summer and winter pastures. In montane regions (vertical transhumance), it implies movement between higher pastures in summer and lower valleys in winter. Herders have a permanent home, typically in valleys. Generally only the herds travel, with a certain number of people necessary to tend them, while the main population stays at the base. In contrast, horizontal transhumance is more susceptible to being disrupted by climatic, economic or political change.[1] Traditional or fixed transhumance occurs or has occurred throughout the inhabited world, particularly Europe and western Asia. It is often of high importance to pastoralist societies, as the dairy products of transhumance flocks and herds (milk, butter, yogurt and cheese) often form much of the diet of such populations. In many languages there are words for the higher summer pastures, and frequently these words have been used as place names: e.g. Hafod in Wales. The term "transhumance" is also occasionally used in correlation with nomadic pastoralism – the regular migration of people and livestock over longer distances. ================ http://ourworld.unu.edu/en/pastures-for-the-future Our World website: Video & background information for all levels. Photo of sheep on road "Transhumance-Aigoual-1" by No machine-readable author provided. RobinL~commonswiki assumed (based on copyright claims). - No machine-readable source provided. Own work assumed (based on copyright claims).. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.5 via Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Transhumance-Aigoual-1.jpg#/media/File:Transhumance-Aigoual-1.jpg ============== There are over 88 major mountain ranges in Kyrgyzstan, making up about more than 70 percent of the country’s territory.