Sheep wearing a red pedometer on their hind leg rush outside to the prairie in North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Photo: Screenshot of video by Btime

Shepherds in North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region have boosted sales by attaching pedometers to some of their sheep to prove they walk 40 to 50 thousand steps a day across the wide expanse of the verdant range in which they graze.

A shepherd in Xilin Gol Prairie said the pedometer-wearing sheep walk ten million steps before they're sold and the slogan: "Mutton from sheep that walked 40 thousand steps a day" has helped increase online sales of mutton tenfold.

Consumers say mutton from free-range sheep is tenderer and tastes better. 

A video posted by Btime on Friday, shows a herdsman attaching an ordinary pedometer to the hind leg of a sheep. The herdsman is then seen on horseback leading his flock across the lush green prairie of Inner Mongolia. 

With the support of the government, the shepherds have established a well-recognized brand for their sheep and are selling them across the country, according to the video.

Annual mutton sales from sheep raised in the region have jumped from 3 million yuan ($419,328) two years ago to 30 million yuan this year, a Tmall retailer said in the video. 

"The pedometers count the steps to the end of their lives," one netizen commented.

Btime