The keeping of livestock requires both maintaining a bond with the animals under one’s care and effective communication. National Geographic Explorer Paul Salopek knows that from his own past as a cattle rancher in Mexico. And, as he tells Host Carolyn Beeler, so do the shepherds and nomads he has encountered along his global walking project, the Out of Eden Walk. He explains and demonstrates some of the language of animal husbandry.
If you have pets, you’ve probably “talked” to them at some point — just like shepherds and animal herders do.
For livestock keepers, the stakes are higher. They must protect animals from predators and harsh weather, relying on mutual trust between man and beast.
National Geographic Explorer Paul Salopek has often observed this relationship firsthand, as he travels by foot to retrace the journeys of the world’s earliest migrants. This journey is being documented in the Out of Eden Walk project.
Host Carolyn Beeler spoke with Salopek about the unique communication and connection seen in animal husbandry.
Below are excerpts from the interview — to hear the full interview, click on the audio player above.
Carolyn Beeler: Paul, I understand that way back in the day, you yourself worked on cow ranches in the US and Mexico. Can you give me any examples of how you communicated with animals then?
Paul Salopek: Sure, happy to. And, you know, it’s a little bit funny, since those days, when I was kind of a paquero, or a cowboy, when I’m walking with animals, I try to speak the local shepherd language to them, right? So, when I would get frustrated, I would sometimes break into my Mexican urging language, which is “arre,” “arre mula,” or, you know, “arreburo,” which of course the donkey or mule from Turkey or from Kyrgyzstan did not understand.
If we were talking about mimicking the sounds that animals make, is this kind of creating a middle-ground language between humans and animals?
I think it goes both ways, most definitely, because we love our animals. Everybody does. But when your survival depends on your animal partners, you have an added incentive to kind of get inside the head and heart of your animal partner. So, I think it is two-way. I really am convinced it is.
I’m curious, Paul, you’re on this walk around the world explicitly to trace the path of human migration, and keeping animals as livestock or for food was part of our evolution as a species. It’s part of what allowed us to make the shift from being hunter-gatherers toward a more sedentary life. And if I am remembering my history classes correctly, living in larger groups and larger civilizations. Did you reflect on that, this communication between humans and animals as part of your evolution as you have gone through?
Very, very much so. It’s this interesting and, really, I think, pretty vital transformation in human consciousness between being with nature and being alone. And I think we love our animals because we still have this limbic memory of living within nature, right? And this communication is a vital part of it. And so … as I walked along — and I’ve written a lot about archeology, anthropology — I’m following the footsteps of the first hunter-gatherers in the Stone Age, I think it’s really this amazing partnership that makes us bigger than who we are. Animals tend to help us grow in many ways.
Parts of this interview have been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Writer and National Geographic Explorer Paul Salopek has embarked on a 24,000-mile storytelling trek across the world called the “Out of Eden Walk.” The National Geographic Society, committed to illuminating and protecting the wonders of our world, has funded Salopek’s project since 2013. Explore the project here. Follow the journey on X at @PaulSalopek, @outofedenwalk.
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