ULAN BATOR, March 19 (Xinhua) -- More than 4.7 million head of livestock have perished in Mongolia so far this winter due to extreme wintry weather, known as "dzud," the country's State Emergency Commission (SEC) said Tuesday.
"At least 4,744,423 head of livestock have so far perished due to the dzud across the country," the SEC said in a statement.
The dzud is a Mongolian term to describe a severely cold winter when a large number of livestock die because the ground is frozen or covered in snow.
As Mongolia saw much more snow than usual this winter, over 80 percent of its territory had been blanketed with snow up to 100 cm thick, according to the country's weather monitoring agency. The amount of snow cover in the country has so far decreased to 63 percent, it said, adding that the country is expected to experience severe spring weather.
As one of the last surviving nomadic countries in the world, Mongolia has elevated its disaster preparedness to high alert due to the harsh winter and livestock loss.
The promotion of livestock husbandry is seen as the most viable way to diversify the landlocked country's mining-dependent economy.
At the end of 2023, the number of livestock in Mongolia stood at 64.7 million, according to the National Statistics Office. ■