shepherds witness eternal circle of life

Herdsmen battle sleepless nights, hunger and cold to ensure health of flocks, livelihood

Birth and death walk side by side among Dilai's flock - that's just the way things are on the Bayan Bulag grassland in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

It's already April, but the grassland has yet to show any sign of spring's arrival. With the sun absent, Dilai and his family have seen nothing but dark clouds and snow for three days. Pregnant ewes paw at the snow-frosted ground looking for grass, while newborn lambs shiver in the wind.

Bad weather during lambing season is the last thing any herdsmen on the grassland, who still preserve the traditions of grazing and migrating, wish for.

Dilai, 50, has been a shepherd on the fertile grassland for decades. The flock of 200 sheep he inherited from his father has expanded to 1,000, but this year, the weather has shown no mercy. The snow and cold have killed more than 5,000 livestock on the grassland this month alone.

In bleak conditions, Dilai and his family are doing their best, while preparing for the worst.

Every day, Dilai and his eldest son, Dovton, inspect the flock while on horseback. Dilai's nephew, Qimti Cering, who comes along with his wife to help, watches any newborns that have been abandoned by their mothers.

Things can be cruel here. A lamb struggles to its feet and scrambles to its mother, only for her to give an angry bleat and dodge her newborn. The lamb approaches again, before being violently kicked by its irritated mother.