August marks the imminent arrival of another harsh winter in Western Mongolia. During this month the nomadic kazakhs in the area dismantle there yurts and head for more temperate locations. As seen in the picture above Bactrian Camels follow there masters for many kilometers, sometimes a long distance behind. Western Mongolia, 2015.

Kazakh herding families in Mongolia today are considered semi-nomadic. For most herding households, this means that the household will move their herds, largely comprised of sheep and goats, although also containing variously camels, horses and yaks, to different pastures for each of the four seasons. Some households will move only two times, once in the spring to the summer pastures and again in the fall back to the winter pastures. Others will move up to four times, depending on the quality of the pasture in a given year. Most families return to specific pastures year after year with use of that pasture being passed down through families. Kazakh family,Western Mongolia, 2015.