03 Chapter Three · The Pastoral Economy
Steppe Atlas · Spring Migration Report
The Headline Finding

The herd does not scatter it remembers the same eight valleys, year after year.

Return Fidelity, 12-Year Mean
87.4%
+6.2 pts vs. 2013 baseline

Of 2,418 tracked herds across the Khangai and Gobi-Altai corridors, nearly nine in ten returned to the same summer pasture within a four-kilometre radius.

Return rate by herding corridor
2013 — 2024 · twelve seasons
Observed fidelity Highlighted corridor National mean · 81.2%
100% 90 80 70 60 81.2% national mean 92% Khangai 88% Khentii 86% Gobi-Altai Spotlight ↗ 84% Dornod 79% Orkhon 74% Selenge 67% Bayan-Ölgii