Livestock accounts for more than 10% of the national gross domestic product and the industry employs 23% of the labor force. Animal numbers exploded in Mongolia in the wake of economic liberalization in the 1990s. When the country was under Soviet control, they were limited to around 25 million. Today that number has nearly tripled, to about 70 million.

Livestock numbers are so high that there is just no opportunity for the land to rest. According to a 2014 report by the Asian Development Bank, peak pasture growth is 75% of what it was 40 years ago and there are fewer highly nutritious plants. These changes affect livestock quality.

Between 1980 and 2000, for example, the average weight of sheep decreased by 4 kilograms (8 pounds), goats by 2 kilograms (4 pounds) and cattle by 10 kilograms (22 pounds). This, in turn, affects herders’ livelihoods, leading them to increase herd sizes to maintain their income and creating a vicious cycle of overgrazing.

Now, as of 2021, the Mongolian government has instituted a livestock tax of up to 2,000 togrogs (62 cents) per animal — with at least 80% of the collected revenue to be used for pasture maintenance.