DROUGHT WATCH:"Mongolian Nomads Face Bitter Spring After Drought Kills Eight Million Animals"

A work-for-cash program, financed with a $1.5 million grant from the United Nations, pays herders to gather the carcasses and bury them in pits.

(Gilles Sabrie for the NewYork Times)

The New York Times: They call it the zud, a prolonged period of heavy snows and paralyzing cold that adds to the challenges of living on a treeless expanse nearly the size of Alaska. But this year’s zud followed a punishing summer drought that stunted the grass and left Munkhbat Lkhagvasuren’s herds emaciated and his family in debt after borrowing money for fodder....
--•The New York Times: Winter Leaves Mongolians a Harvest of Carcasses