Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- To date, 2,136,563 livestock have died across Mongolia due to harsh winter conditions in the country, known as white and iron dzud or winter livestock starvation. This was stated on Tuesday by the Secretary of the State Commission for Emergency Situations of the country Tuvshinsaikhany Bayarhuu at a press conference for local media, Xinhua reports.

According to him, this figure increased by 85.9 percent. compared to the same period last year.

Currently, a campaign is ongoing in Mongolia to collect donations to help Mongolian nomadic herders who were left without a livelihood due to the death of a significant number of livestock during the White and Iron Dzud.

According to the country’s Institute of Meteorology and Environmental Monitoring, currently more than 80.6 percent. The territory of Mongolia is covered with snow. The snow depth in some places still exceeds 100 cm.

White and iron dzud are a natural disaster in pastoral regions, primarily Mongolia, in which livestock are unable to find food under snow and ice cover. As a result, a large number of animals die from cold and hunger.

According to the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Light Industry, by the end of 2023, the total livestock population in Mongolia was 64.7 million head.