Table 1.

Livestock herding patterns across seasons in the Upper Spiti Landscape by the resident agro-pastoral community

	Jan–Feb–Mar	Apr–May–Jun	Jul–Aug–Sep	Oct–Nov–Dec
Agricultural activity	No agriculture Peak winter	Cropping season	Cropping + harvest (Aug–Sep)	Post-harvest grain processing
Livestock types
Small (sheep and goat)	Inside corral within house (Feb–Mar)	In pastures during day. Inside corral at night outside the house. One herder “riyok” particularly for sheep and goat along with people accompanying from the village	In pastures till about mid-August. After harvest in September, feed on stubble in agricultural fields for manure input. Herded in corrals at night outside the house	Herded in pastures from Nov till peak winter but within ca. 2 km radius of the village
Medium (donkey, cow, cow–yak hybrids)	Inside corral within house (Feb–Mar)	In pastures during day. Inside corral at night outside the house.	In pastures and sometimes around agricultural fields. Herded in corrals at night outside the house	In pastures within ca. 2 km range of village. Herded in corral at night outside the house
Large (yak, horse)	Inside corral (Feb–Mar)	In pastures. Not herded	In pastures. Not herded	In pastures. Not herded