audio, stills, text and or video: Go to zReportage.com to see more - Mongolian pastoral herders make up one of the world's largest remaining nomadic cultures. For millennia they have lived on the steppes, grazing their livestock on the lush grasslands. But today, their traditional way of life is at risk on multiple fronts. Alongside a rapidly changing economic landscape, climate change and desertification are also threatening nomadic life, killing both herds and grazing land. Due to severe winters and poor pasture, many thousands of herders have traded in their centuries-old way of life for employment in mining towns and urban areas. The ger (yurt) camps that ring the capital city, Ulaanbaatar, house a permanent population of displaced nomads. There, they live without running water or a tangible use for the skills and crafts that were practiced on the steppes. The younger generation is no longer learning these essential aspects of their nomadic heritage. Nomads now face a choice that will shape the future of Mongolia: withstand the increasingly harsh weather and drying pastures, or give up herding in search of new opportunities.
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Sept, 25, 2012 - Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia - The ger districts that ring the capital city, Ulaanbaatar, house a permanent population of displaced nomads. During the winter, Ulaanbaatar is the second most air-polluted capital in the world due largely to coal burning.
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Aug. 4, 2012 - Khovsgol, Mongolia - A Mongolian nomad corals horses in a pen.
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July 4, 2012 - Ugtaal, Mongolia - Young jockeys, horse owners, and spectators gather before a horse race during Naadam, the traditional Mongolian festival of the 'three manly sports.' Rural Naadams occur all over the country, building up to the national Naadam that takes place in the capital city of Ulaanbaatar.
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July 5, 2012 - Ugtaal, Mongolia - Two wrestlers compete at a small Naadam festival in the countryside. Naadam was traditionally a celebration of victorious conquests, but in the Soviet era, the celebration was organized into a yearly, nationwide festival.
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Apr. 21, 2012 - Mungonmorit, Tov, Mongolia - After an overnight snowstorm, a nomad brushes snow off of his solar unit, which powers the lightbulb, TV, and cell phone in his ger (yurt). Mongolian pastoral herders make up one of the world's largest remaining nomadic cultures.
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June 13, 2012 - Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia - The view of a construction site in Ulaanbaatar from the Ferris wheel of the city's Children's Park. Alongside private enterprises, the Mongolian government plans to build 100,000 new housing units for low-income families.
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March 26, 2012 - Taragt, Uvurkhangai, Mongolia - Illegal miners pan for gold on the steppe. After a spate of incredibly harsh winters wiped out many herds, marginalized herders looked for new occupations, including gold mining.
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July 24, 2012 - Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia - A Mongolian woman drives a taxi at night. Led by the Oyu Tolgoi and Tavan Tolgoi mines, Mongolia is experiencing a resource boom that is creating enormous economic growth and opportunity. The country's main urban center, Ulaanbaatar, is growing at an incredible pace as rural migrants and foreign investment flood the city.
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April 26, 2012 - Nailakh, Mongolia - After the closing of a large, Soviet coal mine, many small mining operations took over. These small mines often employ herding families who have had to give up life on the steppe.
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April 29, 2012 - Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia - Residents of the ger districts collect recyclable and resellable materials from a trash dump. Unemployment in the ger districts hovers around 16 percent.
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Aug. 11, 2012 - Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia - Aug 11, 2012 - Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia - Mongolian men visit a convenience store outside one of Ulaanbaatar's Soviet-style apartment buildings.
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June 4, 2012 - Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia - A monk walks past a derelict and abandoned Soviet hospital. Buddhism has re-emerged as a facet of national identity after the fall of the Soviet Union.
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July 24, 2012 - Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia - Two young men help their drunk friend to a waiting car. In 2006, a joint Mongolian Ministry of Health/World Health Organization study found that 22 percent of Mongolian men were dependent on alcohol--a rate that is 3 times higher than Europe.
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Sept. 25, 2012 - Gobi Desert, Mongolia - A thirsty goat drinks from a laundry machine in the Gobi Desert. Along with herding, family members here work at a nearby mine, providing extra income for amenities like this solar-powered washing machine.
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April 22, 2012 - Batshireet, Khentii, Mongolia - Mongolia has traditionally been known as a sheep-herding country. Even today the average herders owns more sheep than any other animal to supply the national demand for mutton. Mongolia ranks third in the world for the number of sheep per capita.
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Sept. 25, 2012 - Gobi Desert, Mongolia - A herding family sits inside their ger (yurt) with a flat-screen television playing. Most nomad families use portable solar units or windmills to generate electricity and power their electronics.
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March 29, 2012 - Taragt, Mongolia - A young nomad herds his animals by motorcycle after an early spring snowstorm. Mongolian herders adopt technology quickly and it is not uncommon to see trucks and motorcycles replacing work animals.
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March 21, 2012 - Azraga, Arangkhangai, Mongolia - In Azraga county, a pile of bones from animals killed during the 2010 dzud, a Mongolian term for an extremely snowy winter in which livestock are unable to find food. Azraga has been especially unlucky. The winter of 2012 was relatively mild in most of Mongolia, but in this region, a localized dzud killed an estimated 30 percent of the livestock.
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March 28, 2012 - Ulziit, Uvurkhangai, Mongolia - A herder rides out to collect his animals during a snowstorm. Over the past decade, Mongolia has experienced an uncommonly high number of dzud - severe winters that decimate herd populations. Mongolian pastoral herders make up one of the world's largest remaining nomadic cultures.
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Sept. 25, 2012 - Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia - Two Mongolian youth slaughter goats and sheep at a countryside resort for wealthy city dwellers. Mongolian men slaughter these animals by making a small incision in the chest, reaching into the cavity, and pinching or snapping the aorta so the animal bleeds out internally.
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June 21, 2012 - Gobi Desert, Mongolia - A Mongolian nomad family gathers in the late afternoon to milk their goats and sheep in the Gobi Desert.
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Aug. 4, 2012 - Mongolia - Animals are milked at dusk in northern Mongolia. The milk will be used to make butter and yogurt.
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Sept. 25, 2012 - Taragt, Uvurkhangai, Mongolia - A mother administers an IV for her son. In the Soviet Era, modern medicine was introduced to Mongolia, decreasing infant mortality and increasing life expectancy. These factors have led to a population boom since the early 20th century.
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April 24, 2012 - Dadal, Khentii, Mongolia - Although young men used to be given jade pipes by their fathers, most herders now smoke cigarettes.
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