Why was reducing herd size after pasture decline both compulsion and strategy for pastoralists?

It was a practical way to sustain herds with less fodder and limited grazing area

Pastoralists need enough fodder and water to keep their animals healthy. When pasture declines because of enclosure, cultivation, drought or official restrictions, a large herd may require more food than is available. Keeping every animal can then weaken the whole herd and increase losses. Selling or reducing some animals can leave enough resources for the remaining animals, so herd reduction is both forced by scarcity and used as a practical survival decision.

Option A correctly describes this double role. It is a compulsion because pastoralists lose grazing resources and cannot maintain the former herd size easily. It is also a strategy because choosing a manageable herd helps preserve stronger animals and protect the family’s livelihood. The other options are false: reducing a herd does not immediately create pasture, end taxes completely or remove animals’ needs. Thus A is correct.

This is a Class 9 History question. Chapter: Pastoralists in the Modern World. Topic: Colonial Rule and Pastoral Life.