Nomadic pastoralism is a form of pastoralism in which livestock are herded in order to seek for fresh pastures on which to graze. True nomads follow an irregular pattern of movement, in contrast with transhumance, where seasonal pastures are fixed. However, this distinction is often not observed and the term 'nomad' used for both—and in historical cases the regularity of movements is often unknown in any case. The herded livestock include cattle, water buffalo, yaks, llamas, sheep, goats, reindeer, horses, donkeys or camels, or mixtures of species. Nomadic pastoralism is commonly practised in regions with little arable land, typically in the developing world, especially in the steppe lands north of the agricultural zone of Eurasia.
A young Maasai cattle herder in Kenya.
Reindeer milking in a forest; western Finnmark, late 1800s
A boy herding a flock of sheep in India
A camel trader in Hargeisa, Somaliland.
Pastoralism is a form of animal husbandry where domesticated animals are released onto large vegetated outdoor lands (pastures) for grazing, historically by nomadic people who moved around with their herds. The animal species involved include cattle, camels, goats, yaks, llamas, reindeer, horses, and sheep.
A catt of the Bakhtiari people, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Province, Iran.
Saharan rock art from the Pastoral Period at Tassili n'Ajjer in the central Sahara, showing numerous pastoral scenes with cattle and herders
Khoikhoi dismantling their huts, preparing to move to new pastures. Aquatint by Samuel Daniell (1805).
Mongol pastoralist in the Khövsgöl Province