In Mongolia and Aga, herders share and are attached to a common nutag, which they engage with on a daily basis. Although the strength depends on the species, all animals develop an attachment to their nutag, and herders rely on the ability of their horses, cattle or goats to return to the camp from the pastures every day. Indeed, among the many factors taken into account in Mongolian animal husbandry, the differentiated autonomy of each species occupies a prominent place within herding techniques, alongside other criteria.

In this chapter, we will look at how, in Mongolia and Aga, humans and animals of different species cohabit practically on their shared nutag. The absence of enclosures on the steppe implies that the herders control the animals’ movements via various constraints, and certainly herders have to take into account the presence of neighbouring herds, predators and that some species do not like to be around other animals for long periods of time. So what principles govern the use of nutag spaces, shared between humans and animals, and what do they reveal about the concepts of animal autonomy and intelligence?

The pastures

The pastoral space of the Turko-Mongolian people is organized in concentric circles; the centres being the human body, the habitat and the camp (Legrand 2011: 25). Surrounding the camp are the pastures, with the less humanized (Aouelbekov and Ferret 2013: 99) or domestic (Fijn 2011: 203) areas being further away. These concentric circles of organization also apply to the pastures, which are differentiated according to the species and use of the animals (Ferret 2014: 987; Fijn 2011: 203).