abstract:A zud or dzud () is a Mongolian term for an extremely snowy winter in which livestock are unable to find fodder through the snow cover, and large numbers of animals die due to starvation and the cold. The term is also used for other meteorological conditions, especially in winter, that make livestock grazing impossible.
Between the summer of 1999 and early 2002, an unprecedented series of meteorological disasters took place: great swathes of Mongolia were hit by drought, and by different types of zud, winter phenomena that prevent animals feeding either because of ice crusts or heavy snow.