Communication
In Somalia, what is used to identify animals in the distance, and what is it compared to?
Bells, resembles a "living orchestra"
What nickname does the author give animals regarding herding vs machines?
"Solar-powered harvesters".
What does "surfing the green wave" mean? How is it done?
Animal migrations often follow the maximum productivity when greening vegetation happens. It is a process that is culturally learned, not genetically acquired. Translocated animals need to re-evaluate the maps they have learnt over decades.
What is the range that Scandinavian women singers train their voice to reach?
Three to Four kilometres
What important processes happen when animals eat?
1. The transformation of cellulose to protein
2. The production of fertilising manure
3. The spread of acacia trees
4. The sustenance of predators (available prey)
What were the "Cañadas" built for?
Roads meant to allow transhumance of merino sheep to "surf the green wave" between Castile, Extremadura, and Andalucía.
In Mongolia, what is the toiklohgh practice, and what is it used for?
Sing to an ewe and a foster camel lamb while holding them together to prompt the mother to adopt the lamb.
Why do Indian herders reject the name "farmer"? What is proposed instead?
They do not own land, do not till soil, and do not grow crops. An ethnologist proposed "Fields on the Hoof".
What is more valued: milk, meat, or dung, and why?
Dung is valued over milk because it outlasts chemical fertilisers, seeing the effects over 3 years versus one.
The Fulani of West Africa and the Russian Nenet reindeer herders are different from the rest. Why?
They let their animals roam freely and follow them around, trusting their instincts about climate conditions and general judgment (e.g., not settling near a specific mosque)
What is Pathe Pathshala?
A "roadside university" where there is exchange of knowledge between experts and herders who cannot afford education
How do the Raika "deras" work?
Transhumance from Diwali through Mewar and Madhya Pradesh, where a small society of herders' camels fertilises the land of farmers in exchange for food and cash. Women usually lead the processions.
Name three examples of how animals are intermediaries to others.
Mditerranean - goats are used as lead animals in a flock of sheep.
Romania - guard dogs are raised as lead animals along the ship to be identified as kin.
Lebanon - selected males are "merias", or lead lambs and are trained.
What happens at the Chilika lagoon? How were the processes disturbed?
The native water buffalo provides dung to the lagoon and fertilises the water (at night), which sustains the fish population. The government replaced them with Murrah breed (more milk yield), who refused to go in the water and thus, teh fish population collapsed.
How do the landscape vs portrait approaches differ?
The landscape approach optimises output by focusing on the entire terrain and working with what is given by the land. The focus is on the ecological relationship with the resources. Meanwhile, the portrait approach focuses on individual animal yield, isolating the animal from its environmental context (the industrial or scientific approach). Everything is engineered, calculated, and standardised to produce maximum yield.