Baglung. With the Dashain festival approaching, traders from the mountainous region have started hunting down mountain goats in the market. Traders have been transporting the goods from Mustang and Dolpa to Chitwan and Butwal via Myagdi, Baglung, Parbat, Pokhara. The mountain goats produced by the farmers of Mustang are bought by the traders in the urban areas and supplied to the market. At this time, flocks of mountain goats can be found along the roadside. Customers go to the streets to make purchases.

Mountain goats grown in the mountainous region are preferred by many people because of their tasty and medicinal properties. According to traders, the price of mountain goats purchased from Mustang and Dolpa is higher when it is transported to Chitwan and Butwal. Namdev Gurung, a mountain goat farmer of Mustang, said that the traders will transport the mountain to Kathmandu, Pokhara, Chitwan and Butwal by truck.

Gurung, who reached Baglung after walking for three days, said that he would return after reaching Pokhara. Gurung, who came with 300 mountain goats, said that 70 mountain goats were sold when he reached Maldhunga of Baglung. According to him, traders from Pokhara and Kathmandu go to the cattle sheds to buy the mountain goats. According to Gurung, the mountain goats purchased from the Himalayan cattle sheds are transported to the Terai.

“In the month of August, traders go to the cattle sheds and buy them, some of them have already given a gift in the previous year, they get it at a cheaper price in the cowshed and it is expensive to transport them to the market because they have to pay the fare by transporting them by vehicle. But it’s very sad. ’

Since mountain goats eat herbaceous grass in the mountainous region, many people pay a high price to buy it. Tham Singh Budha, a farmer of Dolpa, said that mountain goats that are five years old are considered good for meat. Budha, who said he arrived in Baglung after a seventeen-day journey, said that his main source of income is mountain goat business. He said he runs a family of nine through the mountain goat business. He said that mountain goats are reared in areas where snow is high and it is difficult to protect them from snow leopards and wolves.

According to him, he has been selling mountain goats in the market for the past eight years and the price is increasing every year. Budhamagar said that he started selling mountain goats from Rs 12,000 to now the price has increased to around Rs 50,000. He said that the price will be higher when it reaches Chitwan and Butwal.

He said, “It is natural that the price of mountain goats will increase as far as they are transported, they have to pay the fare while transporting them in trucks, it is difficult to transport them on foot. ’

Mountain goats from Mustang, Dolpa, Mugu and Jumla via the Beni-Jomsom Korala road route enter major cities of the country. Sheep and mountain goats are also imported from Tibet. Mohan Lama, a mountain goat trader, said that the market has come down this season to meet the expenses of Dashain. He said he has been selling mountain goats in Chitwan, Pokhara and Kathmandu for the past 15 years.

Along with the mountain goats, farmers of Baglung have also come to the market to sell their sheep. Most of the farmers in the upper areas of Tamankhola, Dhorpatan and Nisikhola are involved in sheep rearing. They transport the sheep from the lake to Butwal via Burtibang, Kharbang, Gulmi, Palpa.