ULAN BATOR, Feb 17 (NNN-MONGOLIA WEB) – Extreme wintry weather, known as dzud in Mongolia, killed 3,625 livestock animals so far this year, in the western Mongolian province of Uvs alone, the country’s National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said today.
“Dzud” is a Mongolian term to describe the frigid winter that comes after a dry summer and causes the death of a great number of livestock, due to starvation or cold.
A total of 230 tonnes of grass and 60 tonnes of fodder have been distributed from Uvs province’s reserve fund, to local herders at discounted prices, NEMA said.
As snowfall covered 60 percent of the country, 81 soums (a type of administrative district in Mongolia) in 15 provinces are experiencing dzud or near-dzud conditions, according to NEMA.
Mongolia is one of the last nomadic countries in the world. As of 2019, its livestock population was 70.9 million.
Animal husbandry is the backbone of its national economy, with nearly 40 percent of the nomadic population depending on animal husbandry for their livelihood.
Thousands of herders lose their animals almost every year due to dzud. In 2016, more than one million animals died due to dzud.
