Zud

Dsud (Mongolian Зуд ) is a Mongol term for a very snowy winter, in which the animals are unable to find fodder through the snow cover, and a large number of animals due to hunger and cold dies. The term is also used for other meteorological conditions, especially in winter, used under which the grazing of cattle is impossible.

Types of Dsud

The locals sometimes distinguish between blacks, whites and icy Dsuds. The Black Dsud ( хар зуд, char dsud ) is characterized by sparse food in the summer and a cold winter in which many animals die of hunger. The White Dsud ( зуд цагаан, tsagaan dsud ) is characterized by very heavy snowfall, which makes it impossible for the cattle to feed from the otherwise accessible frozen grass, so that it also starved. The Ice Dsud ( мөсөн зуд, mösön dsud ), rarely also Iron Dsud ( зуд төмөр, Tömör dsud ) called, is caused by rain that freezes on the ground, the land becomes coated with ice and the animals prevents them from grass and nurture herbs.

Fourth, there is the Storm Dsud ( шуурган зуд, schuurgan dsud ).

It is not uncommon for Dsuds that in a single winter over a million head of cattle die in the winter of 1944, nearly 7 million head of cattle lost. In the years 1999/2000, 2000/2001 and 2001/2002 Mongolia from three Dsuds was consecutively affected, where a total of 11 million animals died.

From late 2009 to early 2010, 80 % of the territory of the country were covered by a snow cover of 20-60 cm, and 198 counties ( Sum) of 19 aimags were plagued by a hard white Dsud .. In Uvs Aimag took the extreme cold ( temperature at night -40 to -48 degrees C) almost 50 days. The Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Light Industry reported that 2,127,393 head of cattle until February 9, 2010 ( 188 270 horses, cattle and camels, and 1,939,123 sheep and goats) died. The Ministry of Agriculture predicted that the livestock losses could rise to 4 million by the end of winter. It is believed that from December 2009 to March 2010 a total of 4.5 million animals have died. That is about 10 % of the total livestock.

Protection methods

Some traditional methods to protect the animals from such unfavorable weather conditions, the drying and storage of cut grass in the summer months ( according to the European hay ), as well as the gathering of sheep and goat dung to produce dried flammable blocks one " Churdschun " calls. Dried grass can be fed to the animals in order to prevent starvation when Dsud occurs. The " Churdschun " or the blocks from sheep or goat manure are stacked into a wall that protects the animals from the wind and keep you warm in order to withstand the harsh conditions. These blocks can also be burned as a fuel in winter. These methods are still used today in the western part of Mongolia, as well as in places that were formerly part of the Dzungaria.

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