Received: 01.12.2019 Accepted: 09.12.2019 RESEARCH ARTICLE JIVA 17 (3) December 2019 A STUDY ON MOBILITY BEHAVIOUR OF TRIBAL LIVESTOCK # OWNERS AND ITS IMPLICATIONS IN ATTAPPADI TRIBAL BELT *Corresponding author: nishaaravaind25@gmail.com The current study was conducted purposively in Attappadi block of Palakkad district in Kerala as this is one among the large tribal settlements of Kerala with considerable livestock population. Descriptive research design was adopted for the study. The sample comprised of 120 tribal livestock farmers as respondents (n=120) who were selected with the aid of key informants. The respondents belonged to three different tribal communities viz., Irulas (92.5%), Mudugas (5.83%) and Kurumbas (1.67%). The data showed that more than half of the tribal farmers (64.17 %) were females whereas 35.83 per cent were males. The mobility behaviour of tribal livestock farmers revealed that major determining factor for the migratory behaviour of farmers was due to lack of employment opportunities in the area, whereas necessary veterinary services were available in the area. Key words: Attappadi tribal belt, Livestock owners, Mobility behaviour. 41 * Nisha A. and Vimal Rajkumar N. 1 2 1 VIT School of Agricultural Innovations and Advanced Learning (VAIAL) Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore – 632014, 2 Assistant Professor, Dept. of Veterinary & Animal Husbandry Extension Education, Madras Veterinary College, TANUVAS, Chennai – 600 007 ABSTRACT INTRODUCTION In Kerala, there are 36 tribal communities with a total population of 4,84,839 (Population census, 2011). One among the large and diverse tribal concentrated districts of Kerala, Palakkad has 10.1 per cent of the total tribal population of the state. Attappadi is the largest tribal settlement area of Palakkad district with three tribes viz., Irulas (84 per cent), Mudugas (10 per cent) and Kurumbas (six per cent) who are traditionally engaged in agricultural activities. Livestock keeping is the major occupational source for livelihood, and an essential part of the cultural heritage of the tribes of Attappadi. In recognition of its importance and potential, livestock development was viewed as a key strategy for overall development of the tribal economy (Mazumder et al., 2014). In line to this, Yadav et al., (2014) opined that the expanding demand for animal food products generated significant opportunities for the poor to escape poverty through diversifying and intensifying livestock production. Livestock keeping generates a continuous # Part of MVSc thesis submitted by first author to TANUVAS