Mongolia herders face dreaded 'dzud' losses

Thousands of Mongolian herders face disastrous livestock losses from dreaded severe weather known as the "dzud", the Red Cross said on Thursday in launching an international emergency aid appeal.

Landlocked Mongolia is grappling for the second straight year with losses from dzud conditions - a dry summer followed by bitter winter cold that leaves livestock and other animals at risk of starvation and exposure on the country's rugged steppes.

It threatens tens of thousands of herders in a country where almost half the population depends entirely on livestock for food, transportation and income, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, or IFRC, said.

Cattle, sheep and other animals usually die en masse in the dzud, weakened by insufficient summer grazing that prevents them building up the fat reserves necessary to withstand winter temperatures, which can plummet as low as -50 C.

"In spring, animals give birth and when the livestock are already exhausted from the winter they are at high risk without adequate feed, shelter and veterinarian care, which does not exist in some remote areas of the country," said Nordov Bolormaa, secretary-general of the Mongolian Red Cross.

As of this month, more than 42,000 livestock had already perished in the current dzud, the statement said.

"This figure is expected to grow exponentially in the months ahead when a long harsh spring takes hold after the extremely cold winter," the Red Cross said, adding that more than 157,000 people are "at risk" across 17 of Mongolia's 21 provinces.

Hundreds of thousands of livestock are reported to have died in the 2015-16 dzud.

The relief organization hopes to raise enough to assist 11,000 of the hardest-hit households, including provision of cash grants, first-aid kits, and funds to help communities prepare for future dzuds.

Thousands of Mongolia households lead a nomadic existence as herders amid Mongolia's vast plains and mountains, and recurring dzud conditions are blamed for forcing many into a marginalized urban existence in Ulaanbaatar.