JUNE 27, 21:14 EDT UN: Mongolian Drought Causing Havoc By HARMONIE TOROS Associated Press Writer UNITED NATIONS (AP) - A severe drought followed by Mongolia's worst winter in 30 years has killed millions of livestock, creating an economic crisis for 500,000 Mongolians, U.N. and Mongolian officials said Tuesday. More than 2.2 million cows, horses, camels, goats and sheep starved or froze to death, leaving some areas with decaying carcasses every 100 yards, said Douglas Gardner, the U.N. Development Program's regional disaster coordinator in Mongolia. With one third of Mongolia's 2.4 million people directly dependent on raising livestock, ``this is not just a crisis of animals,'' Gardner told a news conference, ``it's a human drama.'' Although less than 10 people are believed to have died as a result of the disastrous weather, it has affected at least half a million people. In a documentary presented at U.N. headquarters Tuesday, a Mongolian herder said he combed his dead goats and sold the cashmere to buy wheat and flour after most of his livestock died in the fierce winter, when temperatures dropped as low as minus 50. ``But what will happen when we run out of this, I just don't know,'' said 50-year-old herder Ayuurzan, who uses just one name. The United Nations has received $371,000 for emergency relief aid for Mongolia - just 10 percent of its initial appeal for $3 million. Meanwhile, the arrival of the summer has also brought new dangers and fears of more drought in Mongolia, a vast, sparsely populated Central Asian nation where approximately one-third of the people still live a nomadic life. ``With summer coming there is growing danger of the decaying ... of dead livestock that could contaminate not only the immediate environment, but also water resources,'' said Jargalsaikhany Enkhsaikhan, Mongolia's ambassador to the United Nations. ``The likelihood of the outbreak of different diseases is quite high,'' he said. Cholera and other diseases can be transmitted by contaminated drinking water.
