VietNamNet Bridge – 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.

The department has also asked farmers to stop grazing once temperatures dip below 12 degrees Celcius. However, Bac Can Province is believed to have the highest incidence of death because not all farmers heeded these instructions.

Deputy Director of the National Hydro-meteorological Forecast Centre Le Thanh Hai said ice and snow would occur in high mountain regions like Sa Pa and Sin Ho and it was likely that today would be the coldest day so far.

While the weather in Sapa is usually colder than in other regions in Viet Nam, temperatures in the town dropped to a staggering 1 degree Celcius on Monday. Frost also occurred in Mau Son in the northern province of Lang Son with temperatures dropping to minus 1.1 degree Celcius on the same day.

A Lang Son dweller Nguyen Thanh Lan said the colder the weather the more buffaloes and cows killed.

With many buffaloes frozen to death, meat has become very cheap. A dead calf sells for VND500,000 (US$23) and an adult buffalo costs only VND300,000 ($14).

Despite the low price tag, Lan said she and other traders were not able to sell out because buyers could only go through so much meat in a given period of time.

The National Hydro-meteorological Forecast Centre said cold spells would continue in the north until January 20.

* Buffaloes freeze to death in Yen Bai

Nearly 30 buffaloes and cows in northern Yen Bai Province died in prolonged icy weather, the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development said.

The department has asked local authorities to stop grazing livestock, store food and cover breeding facilities with cloth to keep animals warm.

Three more cold spells are forecast to hit the north before the Lunar New Year Festival.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News