7,000 BUFFALO AND COWS FREEZE TO DEATH IN VIETNAM

January 15, 2011 |                       Relatedsaigon-gpdaily.com

After enduring a freezing cold with temperatures in mountainous areas dropping to minus four degrees Celsius, northern Vietnam is to undergo another fresh cold snap starting Saturday.


Deputy Director of the National Hydro-meteorological Forecast Center Le Thanh Hai said the new cold bout will drive down temperatures in mountainous provinces to under 10 degrees Celsius and even lower in higher mountainous areas.


Temperature in delta region provinces will dip to 11-12 degrees Celcius.

The Center also predicts an even stronger cold front on January 21 lasting until January 25.


The record low temperature this year had frozen over 7,000 buffaloes and cows to death in more than 12 northern mountainous provinces, said Deputy Head of the Livestock Breeding Department Nguyen Thanh Son on Friday.In mountainous Lai Chau province, 160 new livestock deaths were reported, together with a staggering increase in cold-related cattle deaths in 11 other provinces.


Bac Kan announced there were an additional 300 livestock deaths, while Cao Bang province reported 700 deaths in one day, making a total number of 1,800 buffalos and cows killed under the province’s icy weather.


Agriculture and Rural Development Minister Cao Duc Phat urged northern provinces to take measures to protect livestock from prolonged icy weather on Friday.