Reported By Palden
Edited By Pema Tso
Translated By TenGyal
In 2026, the Chinese authorities launched campaigns to push local population to sell nomadic livestocks to slaughterhouses in the Tibetan region of Gade County, Golog Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture and intensified efforts to publicize the distribution of government incentives and subsidies.
According to official news published online by the Chinese authorities on 6th April, in order to intensify the promotion of policies mandating Tibetan nomads and farmers to send their livestocks such as yaks and sheep to slaughterhouses, the so-called Gade County Agriculture, Animal Husbandry, Water Conservancy, and Science and Technology Bureau of Golog Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture dispatched 100 officials to six townships and one town. These officials held meetings aimed at “boosting public awareness and participation in the 2026 county-wide livestock off-take policies, intended to drive high-quality pastoral growth and stabilize rural incomes.” Emphasizing government incentives and subsidies, the campaign encourages residents to scale up the sale of cattle and sheep to slaughterhouses throughout the county.
Years of Chinese government policies—specifically the partitioning and fencing of grasslands based on household size—have triggered acute pasture shortages. As a result, Tibetan nomads are now routinely forced to rent summer and winter grazing lands just to sustain their herds. Beyond these land constraints, the mandate to send vast numbers of livestock to slaughter annually has decimated the livelihood of nomadic families, forcing them to abandon their way of life and move to urban areas. This trajectory highlights the underlying objective of state policy: the systematic displacement and forced urbanization of Tibetan nomadic communities.
Regarding the recent situation in Golog, Tibet, a local Tibetan source informed Tibet Times, “For several years now, the Chinese government has been forcing farmers and nomads in many parts of Tibet to send livestock to slaughterhouses. This is done, on one hand, to eliminate the native Tibetan way of life and, on the other, to trample upon the religious beliefs of the rural population.” The source went on to state, “While a policy mandating livestock slaughter has been in effect for years, few locals comply; instead, Tibetans continue the practice of ‘life release,’ choosing to liberate animals destined for the slaughterhouse.”
For local herders and farmers, obtaining government subsidies and compensation money is a complex and difficult process that demands meticulous record-keeping. In cases where livestock are killed by wolves or die of other causes, claimants must provide clear proof of identity, including ear tags and registration certificates. Additionally, the animal’s head or the microchip embedded beneath its skin must be presented. Only after these requirements are met—and the remaining meat and hide are surrendered to the government—can the so-called subsidy finally be collected.
Currently, in the nomadic counties of Ngaba, Tibet, a mandatory tax of 26 yuan is charged per head of yak, regardless of age or size. In the event of a loss and death of livestock, the government provides 2,000 yuan for a mature yak and 1,000 yuan for a younger one. However, if a yak is killed by wolves or other predators, a reduced subsidy of 500 yuan is issued, provided the owner can produce the animal’s head as proof.
Similarly, in the Golog region of Tibet, the tax burden on nomadic households includes the annual surrender of two to three yaks as a livestock tax, on top of an annual fee of 18 yuan per head. All yaks covered by these payments are fitted with official ear tags. If a tagged animal dies, the government provides a payout of 2,000 yuan per head, categorized as a “state subsidy.”
In 2023, a branch of China’s Ping An Insurance Company conducted a month-long visit through Driru County in Nagchu, Tibet, ear-tagging over 160,000 yaks. They implemented a system requiring herders to pay a 150-yuan premium per head in exchange for 5,000 yuan in coverage per deceased animal. Reports indicate that although 236 yaks were identified as ill during registration, timely medical intervention limited the losses to 100 head. Additionally, the region enforces a tiered housing tax: households in stable financial standing pay 35 yuan annually, while those categorized as impoverished under government assistance pay a reduced rate of 16 yuan.
Furthermore, in Central and Western Tibet, taxes are levied on farmland, residential plots, and livestock. An annual fee of 15 yuan is charged per head of cattle; should an animal die, a 5,000-yuan payout is issued provided the identity can be verified. Regarding housing and land taxes, payments are mandatory only when the property size exceeds specific government-mandated thresholds.
Since approximately 2000, the Chinese government has mandated that nomadic households pay annual taxes on milk, meat, and grazing land based on family size, though these regulations have undergone significant shifts.
Today, tax structures for farmers and herders vary across Upper, Lower, and Central Tibet, covering livestock, farmland, and housing. In exchange for these payments, the state issues what is termed a “subsidy.” Ultimately, this system has positioned the government as the de facto owner of the natural environment and the livestock within it, reducing farmers and nomads to mere caretakers of state-owned animals and grasslands.
According to the independent UN expert on January 2026 “Between 2000 and 2025 some 3.36 million Tibetans have been affected by government programmes requiring them to rebuild their house for nomads to become sedentary, whilst official statistics say that around 930,000 rural Tibetans have been relocated through either whole village relocation or individual household relocations“
As per 2024 Human Rights Watch report on Tibetan relocation policies (2000–2025), at least 930,000 Tibetans were slated for resettlement. From 2016 to the present, over 709,000 Tibetans (76%) have already been forced to move. This includes more than 140,000 people forcefully relocated as entire village units and over 567,000 individual households subjected to forced displacement. The report underscored that by 2025, these relocation and construction policies would have placed the livelihoods of approximately 2.1 million Tibetan nomads at critical risk.
Beginning around 1950, the Chinese Communist government launched its invasion from eastern Tibet, marked by the widespread seizure and looting of livestock and private property. By 1958, the state enforced collectivization across the Amdo region, establishing village cooperatives to manage state-owned animal husbandry. This shifted again around 1983, when livestock and assets were privatized and redistributed to households based on village populations. Allotments varied by locality: in some areas, individuals received six yaks and a horse; in others, ten yaks each; and elsewhere, twenty yaks per person with one horse shared between two people. Farmland was similarly redistributed on a per-capita basis.
