Mongolia

Red Cross: Mongolians Depleting Food Stocks, Animals Dying Off
Associated Press, April 30, 2000

Mongolians are depleting critical food stocks months before the summer harvest as more of their herds, weakened by drought and snowstorms, die off, the Red Cross warned. Already more than 2.2 million cows, horses, camels, sheep and other livestock have died since the severe and early storms began last year, the Red Cross reported Saturday. It added that in a month's time, at the start of the summer growing season, the number of dead animals will more than double to 5 million. ... A Red Cross relief effort has delivered 195 metric tons of wheat, rice and millet to 2,600 households and distributed 600 pairs of boots. By the end of May, it hopes to have distributed food to 6,300 households, or 35,000 people. Mongolia's latest troubles began last summer with drought and a rodent infestation that reduced ground fodder for animals. The worst snowstorms in 30 years then covered over what little the herds had for forage.

U.N., Mongolia Warn of Ongoing Disaster from Drought, Winter
Associated Press, June 27, 2000

A severe drought followed by Mongolia's worst winter in 30 years has killed millions of livestock, creating an economic crisis for 500,000 Mongolians and serious risk of epidemics, U.N. and Mongolian officials said Tuesday. More than 2.2 million cows, horses, camels, goats and sheep starved or froze to death, leaving some areas with a now decaying carcass every 100 meters (109 yards), said Douglas Gardner, the U.N. Development Program's regional disaster coordinator in Mongolia. With one third of Mongolia's 2.4 million people directly dependent on livestock raising, "this is not just a crisis of animals," Gardner told a news conference, "it's a human drama."