By Thakur Prasad Acharya, Myagdi, Nov. 8: With the increase in the cold, snow has begun piling up in the the Dhaulahiri, Nilgiri and Annapurna mountain range.

The sheep that climbed up to the foot of Himalayas for grazing have now started moving slowly back to lower region.

Seeing that the sheep have started moving down to basins, farmers have started preparation for relocating their sheds as well in the lower areas.

Sheep start climbing up in March-April for grazing on the medicinal herbs found in the Himalayan region and begin descending to basin in cold weather.

Currently, they are moving down to basin and will stay there for three months for warmth and sunlight.

More than two dozen shepherds have been raising more than seven thousand sheep in nearby areas of Lekali regions and Khoparalek of Myadgi district and have been earning a lucrative profit by it.

There is an income of Rs. one to three million a year, said the farmers.

Him Bahadur Chhantyal, a sheep farmer of Malkbang in Dhaulagiri Village Municipality-5, has brought his sheep from near the Dhaulagiri Base Camp to Putali Danda, a location above his home village.

Chhantyal, took his more than five hundred sheep along with sheep sheds near Buki region after climbing up in April and he is now bringing them down for the sunlight.

Chhantyal stayed for 22 years in Malaysia for foreign employment came back to Nepal three years ago and started sheep farming with Rs. 5 million investment.

He is planning to increase the number of sheep by increasing the investment.

Chhantyal, earns more than 3 million rupees a year by selling the sheep.

In this Dashain, a great festival of the Hindu, I sold sheep worth Rs. 1.7 million, he said.

He left the employment of Malaysia and returned to village, in order to give the continuity to the ancestral sheep raising job.

Three persons of Malkabang including Chhantyal are raising sheep commercially. Similarly, there are 10 sheep sheds in Khopra, Anapurna Rural Municipality-5.

Khopra and Khayar Lek are the grazing areas for sheep farmers of Sikh, Ghara and Pauddwar villages, and Khopra Lek is also a tourist destination.

Similarly, there are around 3,000 sheep in the area.

Tourists who stay here spend a night in the sheepfold to see and experience the sheepfold. those who want to buy sheep also visit the sheepfold.

Chhantyal, said, “There is no problem in selling the sheep as people come in the grazing region to buy a sheep for 15-25 thousand rupees.”