Several Mongolia provinces experience extreme wintry weather

A total of 23 administrative districts in Mongolia's six provinces are experiencing an extreme winter condition known as "white dzud," local media reported on Wednesday.

Uvs in the west, Khuvsgul in the north west, and Khentii in the east are among the six provinces affected, the country's National Agency for Meteorology and Environmental Monitoring said in a statement.

There is also a high risk of white dzud in 48 districts of 13 provinces of the country, the meteorological agency said.

A dzud is a brutal weather phenomenon in Mongolia in which a dry summer followed by a frigid winter kills vast numbers of livestock, either by starvation or freezing temperatures.

Snowfall is currently covering up to 70 percent of the nomadic country, it said.

The livelihood of nearly 40 percent of the country's nomad population depends upon animal husbandry and rain-fed agriculture.

Thousands of herders lose their animals almost every year due to dzuds, forcing them to seek new opportunities in the capital city of Ulan Bator. In 2016, more than 1 million animals died due to a dzud.