WSPA - Animals in Disasters Blog

Devastation and an uncertain future for Mongolian herders

One of the vets in our disaster response team, Damien Woodberry, has just returned from Mongolia. This is what he wrote:

"I have just got back from Dundgobi Province in Mongolia, where the landscape is literally littered with dead animals: cows, sheep, goats, yaks, horses and camels. It is horrific. Most the herders’ gers or yurts – semi-permanent tents that they live in - have a large pile of dead animals next to them, with other dead animals lying around the camp. The ones left alive are sick or so weak they barely move when you approach, and all are extremely thin.

I saw family after family in tears at the plight of their animals and the very uncertain future ahead of them. Many herders have lost 50-60% of their herds, while some have lost their entire herd and with it their livelihood. A humanitarian disaster is waiting.

Natsugdorj, one of the herders I visited, had a trophy proudly on display, declaring him the best herder of the district in 2007. But now, of the 150 animals in his herd, only 12 remain. And with no end to the dzud in sight, Natsugdorj faces an uphill struggle to keep these 12 animals alive. Even if he does, he may not be able to continue herding with so few animals and may have to sell the remaining few. With very few other employment opportunities in the province, Natsugdorj, along with many more like him, will most likely be forced to migrate to the slums of the capital Ulan Bator.

WSPA and our member society CAMDA have given 130 tonnes of concentrated fodder to herders in three districts of Dundgobi Province. In addition, we are currently buying 1.3 tonnes of milk powder to feed orphaned lambs and kids.

But even this may not be enough. There is still some feed available, but it is getting more scarce and expensive by the day. More aid is desperately needed to prevent the deaths of millions more animals and protect the livelihoods of the herders, like Natsugdorj, of Dundgobi Province. "

Making plans for Mongolia

We’re busy making plans to help animals in Mongolia, where a dzud – an extremely cold and snowy winter – is killing about 250,000 animals a week.

Dzuds occur about once a decade, and temperatures can plummet to 47 degrees below freezing. This one is especially tough: the drought last summer meant people couldn’t collect enough fodder for their livestock, so the animals were already weak and malnourished when the snow came. There has been much more snow than usual, making it impossible for animals to find food under the ice and difficult for their owners to find alternative sources.

About 2.5 million animals have died so far, and, according to UN Food and Agriculture Organisation estimates, the livestock death toll could be 20 million by the time the dzud is over.

The Mongolian government did have a stockpile of feed, but it has run out. Livestock owners haven’t been able to sell their livestock for meat because the price fell too low and the snow cut off people living in isolated communities.

All of this has left people and animals unable to cope, so we’re working out a plan of action. Firstly, we need to ease the suffering. Our member society the Cambridge Mongolia Development Appeal (CAMDA) is there right now, meeting the authorities and monitoring fodder delivery. Secondly, we want to help the government work on risk reduction strategies, and raise awareness of them among Mongolian communities. We’ll keep you posted.

Assessing the Impact

Phew! That was scary - we were in a building in Talca yesterday when two very strong aftershocks hit. Everyone is ok, but we’ve come back to Santiago to be safe.

We have been travelling around the coastal regions of Maule and BioBio, delivering food, water and first aid equipment, mostly to stray dogs and cats but also to horses, cows and sheep.

We have met a director from Chile’s National Emergency Agency to find out about the shelters that people are staying in. In the three regions of O'Higgens, Maule and BioBio, there are 90 shelters for 19,000 people. Some have brought their animals with them; some have abandoned them. All of them need help.

We also met people from the National Cattle and Agricultural Service (SAG) and the Ministry of Health to try and get official information on the current situation faced by pet, farm and stray animals across the disaster zone. But the information available is limited. As you might expect, these bodies are busy dealing with humanitarian issues and animals are not their immediate priority.

However, while 3 out of 4 households in Chile own a pet, there’s also a huge stray population and, unfortunately, a very low level of responsible pet ownership.  According to the information we collected, a significant percentage of the total dog population in the disaster zone could be roaming the streets after the earthquake and subsequent tsunami - a sure sign that many animals could be in desperate need of help.

Fernando Baeriswyl, Chief of the Division of Natural Resources of the National Cattle and Agriculture Service (SAG), reported that the situation concerning animals-including six lions-from the collapsed circus in the town of Iloca is now under control, and the circus animals are being housed temporarily in zoo parks thanks to joint efforts by SAG and WSPA’s member society, Ecoprotege.

Fernando also confirmed that small farmers (and of course their animals) in the most affected regions of Maule and BioBio, especially those located further inland, are at a disadvantage as aid is being sent mainly to the coastal areas directly affected by the tsunami. These people depend heavily on their animals for their livelihood.

Breathing a sigh of relief

We’re breathing a sigh of relief here at WSPA HQ after hearing that all of our disaster response team in Chile are safe and sound despite being inside a building when two strong aftershocks hit yesterday.

The aftershocks, which came just before the inauguration of Chile’s new president, measured 6.9 and 6.2. They caused panic among people already living in camps outside their ruined homes. Luckily our team managed to get out of the building they were in, but internet access is down so we’re waiting to hear the latest news from them. They were in Talca, in the badly affected Maule region, but we’ve heard that they managed to get away to Santiago.

Impact of earthquake on Chile's animals becomes clearer

Four days after the devastating earthquake and the resultant tsunami in Chile, the destruction is becoming more and more apparent.

The impact on the animal populations is also becoming a little clearer, as we now have information from several of our member societies in the affected regions. (Our Member Societies’ team has been trying to contact them all to find out about their current situation) and luckily most of them and their animals are ok; however several shelters have been damaged and the animals are reportedly facing a lack of food and water.

A center run by our member society, Centro de Rehabilitacion y Rescate de Primates (CRRP) that provides shelter for 165 mistreated/abandoned primates has been damaged too. CRRP staff said that one of the monkeys has died and some of the others are much stressed. The house that provided accommodation for the volunteers at the center has also fallen down. Ironically, while CRRP cope with the challenges they’re already faced with, they are also being asked to take in monkeys from some collapsed local circuses. However, they are forced to say no, as they don’t have enough equipment!

Some other animal shelters run by non-member societies are also reportedly seriously damaged. Many dogs have been left homeless, and there are reports of animals roaming around towns, separated from their owners.

Flights into Chile are very limited, as you can imagine, which is making it really difficult to get in. We now have confirmed tickets, to fly directly to Santiago, but only on Sunday night.

The Disaster Assessment and Response Team here has decided to split the team heading to Chile into two groups so one of them can assess the animal welfare need in the most affected areas and the other one can stay in Santiago to attend meetings with different animal-related agencies and have a clearer picture of the situation for animals.

I am signed up to join the first team, so hopefully by Monday (connectivity and circumstances permitting) I will be able to send through more regular updates on what the situation in Chile is really like.

Chile hit by massive earthquake

An earthquake measuring 8.8 on the Richter scale, even stronger than the recent one in Haiti, hit central Chile early on Saturday morning. The death toll is already reported to be over 700, with many people still trapped inside collapsed buildings.

Our disaster management team in South America is working hard to find out as much as we can about the situation in Chile, so we can plan what to do for the animals there.

This is not the first natural disaster to strike Chile; in 1960 the country suffered the world’s strongest recorded earthquake. But animals are not included in the government’s disaster response plans, and therefore it may be a while before we can put together an assessment of the impact on the animal population.

A resultant tsunami also flooded coastal towns near the epicentre of the earthquake, leaving behind a terrible landscape of widespread destruction. Three days after, people in many areas are still dealing with the desperation presented by having no water, no food, and no electricity.   WSPA is deeply concerned about the fate of stray dogs in the affected areas. Chile is a country with a huge stray dog population and we are afraid that those dogs in flooded zones that are not already dead are at risk of starvation.

News reports on TV have shown that there are lots of dogs on the streets, and just like in Haiti, these dogs will need our help too. We have member societies in the affected region, some of which run animal shelters. WSPA South America is trying to contact them to find out about what help they need. Our Disaster Liaison Officer in Santiago de Chile, the capital city, is contacting other local animal agencies to get a clearer picture of what Chile’s animals are facing. A team of WSPA vets, including Juan Carlos Murillo, is presently investigating options to get into Chile and report on the situation first-hand.

As always, we’ll keep you posted as the true picture emerges.