In Northern Areas of Pakistan, livestock are produced under transhumant and nomadic pastorlist systems. A study was conducted to examine the major characteristics of livestock farming, incidence of diseases and review of support services for livestock development in Gilgit district during 2003. Farmers raise sheep and cattle of lacal/nondescriptive breed while, goats of jarakheil breed. During summer, livestock are freely grazed in meadows, however, farmers face fodder shortage in winter. In traditional livestock farming of the area, livestock are fed through unchopped fodder and straw. Moreover, farmers are unaware of the concept of stall feeding, which not only results in loss of fodder but also in its contamination. Farmers shift one third of the cattle and half of the goats and sheep to alpine pastures during summer. Insufficient veterinary services hinder the proper and timely treatment of livestock. Farmers usually get the available medicines from local shops and treat the animals according to their experience. Furthermore, when some epidemic disease spread out in meadows, it causes loss of hundreds of animals. The farmers could do nothing due to unavailability of proper veterinary facilities in the remote meadows. Survey results revealed improper feeding, unhygienic housing conditions and untimely treatment of the diseased livestock as main causes of high mortality rate.