A total of 710,940 animals have died so far this year in Mongolia due to the extreme wintry weather known as ‘dzud’. The dzud is a brutal weather phenomenon in Mongolia where a dry summer followed by a frigid winter kills vast numbers of livestock either by starvation or cold.

This winter snowfall covered up to 50 percent of the country, with 66 administrative subdivisions in 12 provinces experiencing dzud or near dzud conditions, the Mongolian National Agency for Meteorology and Environmental Monitoring said in a statement.

The provinces which registered the highest rates of animal death included Khovd (87218) and Uvs(25098) in the west, Khuvsgul(11483), in the northwest, as well as Khentii (28077) in the east.

Nearly 40 percent of the country’s nomad population is dependent on animal husbandry and rain-fed agriculture for livelihood.