After Drought & 3 Straight Weeks At -40, Mongolia Takes Stock Of Devastated Herds & Herders - AFP

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Erdenechimeg, one of hundreds of thousands of Mongolians who lead nomadic lives and depend entirely on livestock for a living, is grappling with the country's second straight dzud -- a severe winter after a dry summer. The rare double-barreled weather phenomenon -- one of the worst on record in Mongolia -- often leads to food shortages for the livestock that generations in the landlocked, impoverished Asian nation have depended upon for survival.

More than 3.5 million animals -- cows, sheep, goats, yaks, horses and camels -- have died so far, with 60 percent of the country still buried under deep snow. The frozen carcasses of these animals now lie scattered across the Mongolian steppes, their twisted bodies half buried in the snow drifts. January was the worst, with the mercury frozen at -40 degrees Celsius (-40 Fahrenheit) for three straight weeks, Erdenechimeg said.

To keep their herd alive, she corralled the animals into tight pens while her husband Batdorj trudged into the darkness and blowing snow to look for strays. Their eight horses quickly succumbed, along with scores of sheep and cashmere goats. The lambs only survived because Erdenechimeg kept dozens of them inside the family ger, the circular felt tent-home used by nomads.

More of her animals will die before winter is out because she simply has nothing to feed them. The lifeless and frozen ground will not see green shoots for another six weeks at the earliest. "We've just had a string of bad luck. Last year we lost a lot of animals so we moved to new pastures. But the dzud has followed us," she said. The last major dzud to hit Mongolia occurred over three straight winters from 2000 to 2002, with about 2.5 million animals dying each year.

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http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Mongolias_harsh_winter_of_discontent_999.html