Emergency nutrition helps thousands of animals at risk of starving to death in Mongolia
Press release
Nearly 350,000 animals in Mongolia are set to get relief from life-threatening weather with 37 tonnes of emergency nutrition relief packs being distributed by World Animal Protection and partner agencies.
World Animal Protection and the Mongolian Red Cross, with support from US AID and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent (IFRC), are currently distributing emergency relief packs to 1,740 households in the Uvs, Khuvsgul, Zavkhan, Selenge and
Khovd provinces. Each pack helps provide important nutrition to sheep, goats, cattle and horses, and includes:
- 10 kg of milk powder
- 1 litre of fish oil
- 3 kg of vitamin supplement
- 8 kg of mineral blocks.
Animal owners are still recovering from the devastating 2016 dzud that killed 1.1million animals, leaving many herders vulnerable[1]. We recently revisited a woman called Mrs Davaa who has about 70 sheep, goats and cattle. Her animals are always deficient in salt and minerals - the mineral blocks and milk powder we provided last year for these animals made the difference between life and death.
World Animal Protection disaster response manager, Steven Clegg says: “Winter in Mongolia came nearly two months early covering 50% of Mongolia in snow and animals from pre-winter grazing, particularly the northern and eastern areas.
“The early snowfall followed another summer with drought conditions and has pushed families still trying to recover from the 2016 dzud into further hardship. Many of the most vulnerable households are unable to provide for their families and their livestock.
“As a result, the most vulnerable herders do not have resources to protect their animals through the long winter ahead. Without our help, families will not be able to provide adequate nutrition for their animals as the devastating conditions start to weaken animals and threaten their health and welfare. These packs will be life saving for both animals and the people who care for and rely on them.”
IFRC resident coordinator, Mr. Enkhjin Garid said: “We are all working towards the same goal. In Mongolia, we can’t help people if we don’t also help their animals.”
Notes to editors:
- For an interview with a spokesperson, contact Kai Akram on kaiakram@worldanimalprotection.org or +44 (0) 20 7239 0542 / +44 (0) 7772 296 256.
- World Animal Protection has responded to disasters across the world for over 50 years, follow our work: http://disasterresponse.worldanimalprotection.org/
[1] http://www.unocha.org/top-stories/all-stories/mongolia-extreme-weather-…