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10 May 2001 By Hler Gudjonsson in Mongolia A freak snowstorm which swept through 15 provinces of Mongolia in early April has caused widespread damage. It has worsened the plight of tens of thousands of herders who this year have witnessed the coldest winter in living memory during which at least 22 people froze to death while herding their animals and nine are still missing. An additional 22 people were disabled because of frostbite during this most recent snowstorm and more than 65,000 domestic animals are reported to have been killed. This brings the total of animal deaths caused by this year's dzud, or winter disaster, to over two million. The Federation is organizing extensive relief operations in the area to assist 35,000 of the most vulnerable herders. Many have lost all but a handful of animals and are in immediate need of assistance as their food supplies have finished. Most families had also used up all their money to buy fodder in a desperate attempt to keep their last animals alive only to see them killed by the snowstorm. Through the latest appeal launched in February the International Federation will provide disaster victims mainly with food, first aid kits and transistor radios for sending out Red Cross messages. "I have never before experienced such a serious snowstorm in April,' said Tsend, a 50-year old herder. "I lost 200 animals between the 5th and the 8th of April, and most of the surviving ones are very weak. At the beginning of this winter I had 800 animals, but now I have only 300 left." Like most herders he expects to lose more animals during May when the livestock use up the last sources of energy contained in their fat and muscles. Last year more animals died in April and May than in all the other winter months together and government officials expect the number of dead animals to double before the end of this winter. Tsend's father, who is 88 years old, still remembers the dzud of 1920. 'I was only a child then but people talked about that dzud for years afterwards,' said the old man. 'It was a terrible disaster, but this year the herders are losing much more animals, and I have never heard of, or experienced, such long periods of extreme temperatures.' The rolling hills of the Mongolian steppes will not become green until June, and until then the herders will continue their struggle to keep their animals alive or trying to find those that they have lost during the snowstorms. Javzandulam, a 60 years old herder woman has only two of her seven grown up children still living with her in her ger and they are too few to be able to take proper care of the herds. "I had 1000 animals before this year's dzud, but now I have only 300 left,' said the widowed Javzandulam. "During the latest snowstorm 260 horses disappeared, driven away by the strong wind. We have been searching constantly for many days, but we cannot find them." The old woman expects to lose many more animals before the winter is over and realizes that her livelihood is seriously threatened. She is receiving some aid from the government, but more is needed to help her and other Mongolian herders who are about to lose all their animals. "I just hope that I will be left with at least one or two animals,". Javzandulam said. Both she and other families now expect very difficult times ahead. "The sky is too high and the earth is to hard," says her neighbour Tsend. |
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There
are dead animals spread all around the pastures. This cow is a victim
of a snowstorm which occured in early April.(p6476).
