Gallery
Shepherds in West Sikkim usually milk their animals twice a day, in the morning and in the evening (Photo by Anjali Joy).
Kibber, a cold desert village perched at 4,270 metres in Spiti Valley, serves as the gateway to the Kibber Wildlife Sanctuary. In recent years, community-led snow leopard tourism has become a crucial winter livelihood, turning conservation into a locally sustained economic resource for village households.
(Photo by Abhishek S).
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The daily grazing routine in Kibber village, Spiti, involves a group of herders accompanying livestock to the pastures each morning and returning in the evening (Photo by Anjali Joy).
Our team during fieldwork in Sikkim’s Tingting village, discussing the issue of crop-raiding bears, monkeys, and porcupines (Photo by Ajay Immanuel Gonji).
A sheep herder from the Gurung community in Sikkim explaining the traditional knowledge he learnt from his family (Photo by Wilson Biswakarma).
In west Sikkim today, goats are largely stall-fed, while sheep depend on seasonal roational grazing (Photo by Ajay Immanuel Gonji).
Sikkim is officially recognized as the world's first 100% organic state. Here is seen a small plot of vegetables next to a house (Photo by Ajay Immanuel Gonji).
The village of Chung is known for its dairy cooperative centre, established by the community, which provides a steady and predictable income stream for households engaged in cattle rearing (Photo by Ajay Immanuel Gonji).
The village of Chongri (which means yak and its hybrids) is home to five to six crossbreeds. While pack animals such as dzo are purchased here for use in tourism, variants like sincho, which are known to be more aggressive, are primarily used for breeding and milk production. Tholle, an offspring of sincho and yak, is usually raised for only about two months due to its short lifespan and is primarily used for meat (Photo by Anjali Joy).
​In Kibber, irrigation is led by women, who manage a carefully ordered cycle that prioritises the devta (God), vulnerable households, and those maintaining water channels. Drawing snowmelt from Kanamo peak and through centuries-old khuls, women oversee water distribution, adapt the system for green peas, and pass this knowledge from mothers to daughters (Photo by Anjali Joy).
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Blue sheep (Pseudois nayaur), or bharal, roam the high-altitude slopes of Spiti, perfectly adapted to its cold desert terrain. Moving in herds across steep cliffs and grasslands, they are a vital part of the Himalayan ecosystem and an important prey species for the snow leopard (Photo by Anjali Joy).
Cattle grazing in the village of Tashigong in the Spiti Valley during the summer. Unlike other villages in the Kibber panchayat, smaller villages such as Tashigong and Gete allow livestock to graze freely (Photo by Anjali Joy).