UK Cold Freezing Vietnamese Cattle

Julia Slingo says the cold is “very much confined to the UK and Northern Europe” – but some of it snuck over to Vietnam.

Icy weather freeze cattle to death

HA NOI – More than 400 buffaloes in the northern mountain provinces have frozen to death due to damaging cold weather, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Bac Can Province suffered the most severe losses with 200 buffaloes dead. Ha Giang, Lao Cai and Yen Bai Provinces have also been greatly impacted by the freezing temperatures, but Head of the Livestock Breeding Department Hoang Kim Giao said the actual figures remain unknown as the provinces have not yet submitted reports.

Mr Giao is currently working with the provinces to collect updated numbers of livestock deaths. In 2008, over 52,000 buffaloes and cows died during prolonged cold spells; 3,000 deaths were reported in Bac Can Province alone. Mr Giao felt confident that current figures would not exceed those from 2008 since farmers were instructed to cover breeding facilities as early as October.

http://vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn/

h/t to Marc Morano