The indigenous community protecting Himalayan sacred cattle in India

The mithun, a sacred cattle species in the Himalayas, is threatened by deforestation and climate change. An indigenous community is building “living fences” to protect this endangered species.

In the eastern foothills of India's Himalayas, livestock farmer Yang Ering Moyong slips on a baggy shirt and trousers and heads out in the early morning. As she stomps through the dense shrubbery in the hills surrounding the village of Mirem, she lets out a high-pitched call summoning her mithuns, a semi-wild and endangered cattle species, back from the woods.

The 39-year-old mother of two, who is a member of the indigenous Adi tribe of Arunachal Pradesh, is the only female herder in her village. She started rearing mithuns when her husband died eight years ago. It is a tough business, she says.
 
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