The relevance of herders’ local ecological knowledge on coping with livestock losses during harsh winters in western Mongolia

Pastoralism

Research, Policy and Practice

Table 2 Annual livestock losses (head) from 2005 to 2011 as recalled by 50 interviewed herder households in the Bayan-Ölgii and Khovd provinces (Mongolian Altai)

Livestock species	2005/06^a	2006/07	2007/08	2008/09	2009/10^b	2010/11	Cumulated losses	Share (%) in cumulated losses
Sheep	119	51	184	21	1226	41	1642	23.3
Goat	126	38	596	25	3782	44	4611	65.5
Cattle	11	1	21	0	198	14	245	3.5
Yak	0	0	33	0	121	12	166	2.4
Horse	17	0	26	1	286	22	352	5.0
Camel	2	0	4	0	6	12	24	0.3
Total	275	90	864	47	5619	145	7040	100
Share (%) in total losses	3.9	1.3	12.3	0.7	79.8	2.1	100

Kruskal-Wallis test: across species, no significant differences in losses (p > 0.05) between ethnic groups and wealth strata
^aAnnual considerations, always starting in winter, i.e. November
^bMost recent dzud year at the time of interview