Number of livestock animals in Mongolia reaches record high

The number of livestock animals in Mongolia has reached 61.5 million, a record high for the landlocked nation since it began to carry out a livestock animal census, the statistical office said on Tuesday.

The census was conducted between Dec. 8-17 in 16 rural provinces. The number of livestock animals increased by 5.6 million compared with that of last year, said Ariunzaya Ayush, chairwoman of the National Statistical Office of Mongolia .

According to preliminary result of the nationwide census, 45.3 percent of all livestock are sheep, against 41.6 percent for goats and 6.6 percent for cattle.

Among the rural provinces, Uvurkhangai province has largest number of livestock at 5.2 million.

According to the census, there are 223,700 herder households with livestock animals, an 7.5 percent increase than that of last year.

Experts said this record increase of livestock brings both good and bad news.

Ecological experts have repeatedly warned about expanding desertification and pastureland overgrazing caused mainly by an increase of cashmere goats as 64 percent of the Mongolian pastureland has been degraded.

The number of livestock animals to be kept by herder households should be regulated, advised experts. But Mongolia does not have any law or regulation restricting that number.

On the other hand, the Mongolian livestock sector is largely unproductive except for its cashmere goat herds, the main source of income for the thousands of Mongolian herders.

The government had tried to export meat to other countries including China, but was impeded by frequent outbreaks of livestock animal diseases such as foot-and-mouth, as well as low levels of veterinary services and food standards. Endi