Unusually harsh winter in Mongolia leaves 6 million livestock dead

Future of herding families in peril as 60 million animals face starvation till new grass sprouts

An unusually brutal winter in Mongolia has left much of the country's grazing land frozen and snow-covered, starving or freezing millions of animals and upending thousands of lives in a country where one-third of the population depends on herding and agriculture to make a living.

This year has brought the most snow in 49 years to Mongolia, and the deaths of more than 5.9 million livestock, the worst toll since 2010, international aid groups said this week.

While the harshest weather might have passed, about 60 million animals face starvation until new grass sprouts in May, imperilling the future of herding families.

"The worst is yet to come," Mr Tapan Mishra, the top United Nations official in Mongolia, wrote in a report this week. "The peak of livestock mortality is expected at the end of April."

The die-off is caused by a weather event known in Mongolia as dzud, where a dry summer is followed by a severe winter that brings deep snow and bitter cold, locking pastures under ice.

The deaths can be devastating for families and the country's economy, 13 per cent of which is driven by agriculture, mostly livestock.