Serious drought since June is threatening the livelihood of herding families in Maduo County, the source region of the Yellow River in northwest China's Qinghai Province.
Local meteorological sources said the temperature in July was 2. 8 degrees higher than the corresponding month in previous years, and the rainfall was 71 percent less than the previous figures for the same month.
Sources said that five straight years of drought has ruined local pastures, and many local rivers and lakes have dried up.
Serious drought conditions this year have affected more than 7,600 herdsmen and 380,000 head of livestock of the county.
According to the county's animal husbandry department, the lack of grass may lead to starvation for at least 300,000 domestic animals, or more than 90 percent of the county's total.
And 70 percent of the county's over 10,000 herdsmen will have to leave their homes to rent pastures for grazing elsewhere this winter and next spring.
(Xinhua News Agency 09/20/2001)
