Ovicaprid Husbandry

Shephering is common among the people in the northern highlands while goats are reared by the population in the southern region, most of whom have descended from the settlers from Nepal. Sheep are mainly kept for wool but people do eat the meat when sheep die. Sheep skin was also widely used as back pads and mats in the past. Young children were often employed in herding sheep in the meadows around the village. The sheep are often kept in a shed or the basement of a farmhouse at night. As young children go to school and clothes are easily imported from outside today, shepherding has declined in Bhutan. Goats are kept for both milk and meat. Among the southern Hindu population, goats are often sacrificed in religious rituals.