Ulan Bator, Feb 3 (IANS): Approximately 80 per cent of Mongolia's land is now blanketed in snow, the National Agency for Meteorology and Environmental Monitoring reported on Monday.
"As of January 31, about 80 per cent of the country's total territory has been covered with snow of up to 60 cm thick," the weather monitoring agency said in a statement.
Mongolia is known for its harsh winters, which are largely influenced by the Siberian high-pressure system.
Last winter, the Asian country experienced one of its most extreme cold spells in decades, with the highest record snowfall since 1975. Around 90 per cent of the territory was covered in snow up to 100 cm thick, triggering a severe dzud, a natural disaster unique to Mongolia, where extreme cold and heavy snow prevent livestock from accessing food, leading to mass animal fatalities.
The severe dzud last winter resulted in the loss of millions of livestock, dealing a heavy blow to the country's herders and rural economy, Xinhua news agency reported.
Dzud, a Mongolian term, describes a catastrophic winter in which livestock perish due to frozen or snow-covered grazing lands, threatening the livelihoods of nomadic herders.
Last week, the Mongolian government stated that it has decided to stockpile at least 10,000 tonnes of livestock meat to ensure a steady supply for residents of the national capital during the spring season of 2025.
Relevant officials have been assigned to oversee the supply, distribution, sales, quality and safety of the reserved meat, according to a statement from the government's press office on Wednesday.
During the harsh spring season, as nomadic livestock become lean and herders have fewer animals to sell, meat prices rise in urban areas, leading to potential shortages.
Ulan Bator is home to about half of Mongolia's 3.5-million population, and livestock meat is the primary food consumed by Mongolians.
As one of the world's last remaining nomadic nations, Mongolia had 57.6 million livestock at the end of 2024, according to the National Statistics Office.