Phobjikha's Sheep Fall to 351 as Young People Leave and Farmers Turn to Potatoes

A valley's shrinking flocks tell a wider story

Phobjikha in Bhutan's Wangdue Phodrang district has 351 local sheep, down from 770 in 2022 and more than 2,000 in 2013. Across two chiwogs, the remaining flocks sustain a tradition increasingly squeezed by migration, better earnings from potatoes, predators and limited access to pasture.

The Integrated Agriculture and Livestock Census of Bhutan 2025 records 96 male and 255 female sheep in Phobjikha, two deaths and 0.20 metric tonnes of wool production. In 2023, the valley recorded 426 sheep, 46 deaths and 0.49 metric tonnes of wool. In 2022, wool production stood at 3.57 metric tonnes.

Between 2022 and 2025, the flock fell by 419 animals, or about 54 percent. Wool output dropped by roughly 94 percent over the same period. Those figures capture the retreat of an activity that once provided families with wool, manure and the materials for winter clothing they spun and wove themselves.

Older residents now carry much of the work. Sheep need supervision while grazing, protection from predators and arrangements for seasonal pasture. As younger people leave for schooling and urban jobs, fewer household members remain to share those tasks.

Potatoes offer a more attractive income for many families. Better roads, buyers who come to the valley and quick cash payments have made the crop easier to sell, while sheep require continuing care before wool can earn a return.

The local account of Phobjikha's sheep farming decline describes farmers changing crops and younger residents seeking work in towns. For the households still keeping sheep, the decision involves both earning a living and maintaining skills and customs passed down through generations.

How quickly have the numbers fallen?

Phobjikha's livestock extension agent puts the valley's sheep population at more than 2,000 in 2013. By 2025, the remaining 351 animals represent a decline of more than 82 percent from that earlier level.

The more recent census figures show that the contraction has continued. Sheep numbers and wool production both fell between 2022 and 2023, then declined again by 2025.

• 2013: Phobjikha had more than 2,000 sheep, according to the gewog's livestock extension agent.
• 2022: The valley recorded 770 sheep and 3.57 metric tonnes of wool.
• 2023: The flock stood at 426 sheep, with 46 deaths and 0.49 metric tonnes of wool.
• 2025: The census recorded 351 local sheep, comprising 96 males and 255 females, with two deaths and 0.20 metric tonnes of wool.

Families reduce their flocks or sell them entirely when the work exceeds the labour available. Local leaders say most sheep sold from Phobjikha leave the valley, often for Bumthang. Some villagers describe selling breeding animals to buyers in central districts where herding networks remain stronger.

Why potatoes are winning the household calculation

Farmers report wool prices of roughly Nu 450 to Nu 500 a kilogram. Earning that money involves much more than shearing: wool must be sorted, washed, spun and woven if households are to turn it into finished textiles. Animals also need daily herding and pens at night.

Dogs or wild animals can destroy months of work in a single attack. That risk makes a modest wool income harder to justify, particularly for elderly owners with few relatives available to help.

Potatoes suit Phobjikha's soils and climate and have a long record of reliable sales. Improved roads have strengthened access to markets. Buyers often arrive during harvest, payment is quick, and farmers can hire labour for short periods instead of arranging animal care throughout the year.

Wool requires months of care before a sale and often further processing to secure a better price. For families needing dependable income each season, the appeal of potatoes is practical, even when they value sheep farming.

Young people leave, older herders carry on

Younger villagers often move to urban centres for education and work, leaving a small number of older residents to look after animals. Herding is physically demanding and time consuming, and every missing pair of hands changes how many sheep a household can manage.

Flocks need someone to watch them graze, protect them from attacks and organise access to pasture as the seasons change. When grazing grounds are distant, the work becomes more tiring and costly. Families facing those pressures often sell animals rather than continue with a flock they can no longer supervise.

Local leaders identify the lack of tsamdro, or pastureland, as a central constraint. Scarce, distant or contested grazing land, together with unclear access rules, makes daily decisions harder for herders already short of labour.

Phobjikha's remaining flock therefore depends heavily on a small number of committed households. The concern locally is that sheep could disappear from the valley if no new households take up the work.

What makes Jakar sheep worth conserving?

Bhutan recognises four types of native sheep: Jakar, Sipsu, Sarpang and Sakten. Jakar sheep are believed to be associated with Phobjikha and occur in central districts including Bumthang and Trongsa. They are now vulnerable as families leave herding.

Jakar sheep are adapted to central highland conditions and provide wool for blankets, clothing and local textiles. Families once spun that wool into yarn at home, fitting sheep care and textile work around the climate and agricultural calendar.

Genetic studies and local records identify distinct categories of Bhutanese sheep, including Jakar in central Bhutan. Conserving animal genetic diversity means keeping the inherited traits found in different livestock populations, including hardiness, resistance to disease and adaptation to local climates.

Jakar sheep also carry cultural value through seasonal grazing practices and offerings to local deities. As flocks shrink, the knowledge needed to breed, tend and use these animals can shrink with them.

Predators and changing grazing routes add pressure

Feral dogs frequently attack sheep in Phobjikha and other districts. Bears and other wildlife also take animals, especially when flocks graze far from villages. Such losses affect both household finances and the willingness to keep raising sheep.

In Chumey, Bumthang, villagers described losing sheep every day and, in some cases, entire pens in a single night. The account of Bhutan's declining sheep population also describes a steady annual fall in national numbers and severe wildlife losses in some villages.

Phobjikha families once sent their sheep to summer grazing grounds in the Black Mountains, where yak herders watched them. That arrangement has nearly disappeared as many yak herders have sold their animals and seasonal movement patterns have changed.

Fewer caretakers and more difficult pasture access have weakened the old grazing circuits. Sheep owners must now manage the combined demands of finding grass, supervising animals and protecting them from predators with less help.

Secure night pens, dogs trained to guard livestock and coordinated management of stray dogs have helped in other pastoral regions. Putting such measures in place requires money, local agreement and people able to organise the work, all difficult demands in villages with ageing residents and limited labour.

Wool, clothing and customs are fading together

Elders remember a time when most households kept large flocks, sometimes as many as 200 sheep each. Wool became blankets and clothing for long winters, while shearing and weaving brought people together through shared seasonal work.

Only a few households in some chiwogs now keep sheep. The valley, also known for the black necked cranes that winter in its wetlands, is losing part of the working culture that connected families to the surrounding landscape.

Better roads have also brought easier access to ready made garments. Weaving woollen clothing has slowed to a trickle as families buy clothes rather than make them.

A few homes still offer a male sheep to a local deity, a custom believed to support household health and harmony. That link to belief continues even as everyday herding becomes harder and summer movements to the Black Mountains nearly disappear.

Conservation support has struggled to change the economics

A government supported programme in Phobjikha encouraged owners to retain Jakar sheep by providing breeding rams, veterinary care, simple tools for processing wool and training. Its aim was to maintain flocks while improving wool quality and market value.

The local cooperative, Samdrup Phuentshog Lug Detshen, was formed with support from the National Biodiversity Centre. Equipment provided through that partnership included a wool shredding machine intended to ease processing and encourage collective activity.

Local leaders say the cooperative and equipment did not change farmers' decisions enough to reverse the decline. Labour shortages, predator attacks and low wool prices continued to shape whether families could keep animals.

The National Sheep Farm in Bumthang supplies animals and training to interested farmers. Instruction covers shearing, basic animal health care and wet and dry felting, methods used to turn wool fibres into felt products.

Training has sought to broaden production beyond traditional cloths such as yathra and Bumthang mathra. Felted goods could increase earnings from each kilogram of wool, but a dependable cottage industry needs suitable designs, buyers, coordination and a steady supply.

Reviews of Bhutan's farm animal genetic resources call for conservation within communities alongside support across agencies. They also identify the difficulty of maintaining breeding programmes when households see little demand or income and move towards activities that pay more quickly.

What could make keeping sheep more practical?

Measures used in other pastoral regions suggest ways to reduce losses and share the workload. Night pens made with sturdy mesh, lights and raised platforms can help protect animals. Properly trained and managed livestock guardian dogs can deter feral dogs and wildlife.

Community herders rotating among flocks could reduce the burden on elderly residents. A small cooperative could pool wool, agree on quality standards and negotiate with buyers, potentially securing better prices than individual households can obtain alone.

Those possibilities would require local participation and resources. Phobjikha's experience with earlier support shows why equipment and training need to sit alongside solutions to the daily work and risks of herding.

Clear pasture access and seasonal agreements with caretakers in higher grazing areas could make flock movements easier to organise. Mobile shearing and veterinary services could also reduce the everyday cost of keeping animals.

Modest grants for protective infrastructure and guardian dogs could help prevent losses that otherwise push families out of livestock farming. Compensation for verified predator losses, used in some countries, could help steady household budgets. These are possible responses, rather than announced new measures for Phobjikha.

Wool sales would need attention too. Presenting Jakar wool as a native highland fibre could help connect its identity with products that buyers want. Designers and craft groups could work together on items retaining traditional motifs, including clothing, bags, toys and home goods.

Training in felting and simple weaving could widen that range. Partnerships with hotels and tour providers during crane season could create outlets for local products, with sales supporting sheep conservation and the valley's cultural landscape.

Each proposal addresses a different part of the household calculation: fewer losses, less labour, clearer grazing arrangements or better returns. Together, they could make keeping a small flock more practical for families deciding whether to continue.

A local decline within a national shift

Bhutan had close to 10,000 sheep in late 2023, but the animals are increasingly concentrated in a few districts. Samtse accounted for more than half the national flock in 2024, with over 5,000 sheep, while many other places maintained only small herds.

Sales to central districts and the concentration in Samtse suggest that sheep keeping is gathering in places where pasture and markets still suit it. For Phobjikha, however, animals leaving the valley mean fewer opportunities to pass on local practices.

National reviews describe declines across several livestock groups, including yak, buffalo, equine animals, pigs, sheep and goats. Maintaining native breeds protects useful inherited traits while preserving the links between animals, crafts and local identity.

Sheep also contribute to a more varied rural economy. Their manure supports soils, livestock can spread household risk when crops fail, and wool crafts can provide seasonal earnings for women and elders.

As flocks disappear, those benefits diminish and families rely more heavily on a single crop. Keeping some sheep, even in small numbers, would retain another source of income and agricultural support alongside potatoes.

Phobjikha's remaining 351 sheep represent both a livelihood and a body of knowledge. Their future rests on whether households can continue the work, or whether arrangements emerge that make raising them worthwhile for another generation.

The Bottom Line

• Phobjikha recorded 351 local sheep in 2025, down from 770 in 2022 and more than 2,000 in 2013.
• Wool production fell from 3.57 metric tonnes in 2022 to 0.49 in 2023 and 0.20 in 2025.
• Better returns from potatoes, youth migration and labour shortages are encouraging families to leave herding.
• Feral dogs, wildlife attacks and difficult pasture access add to the burden on mostly elderly caretakers.
• Vulnerable Jakar sheep connect native livestock diversity with wool crafts, seasonal grazing and local beliefs.
• A cooperative, equipment support, breeding animals and training have failed to reverse the valley's decline.
• Protection from predators, shared herding, clearer pasture arrangements and stronger wool markets could help remaining households continue.
• Retaining sheep would preserve manure, another source of household income and skills that are fading as potato farming expands.