Mongolian Herders Adopt GPS and AI for Livestock Management Amid Extreme Weather
Nomadic herders in Mongolia are increasingly utilizing the Hunu app, which integrates GPS trackers and artificial intelligence-based weather updates, to manage their livestock. This technological adoption is a direct response to the severe environmental challenges posed by droughts, dust storms, and extreme cold, including events like the 2024 dzud, which saw temperatures plummet to minus 45 degrees Celsius and resulted in the loss of over eight million head of livestock. The Hunu app provides critical data such as snow depth, wind direction, soil moisture, and drought conditions, alongside AI-powered alerts for dust storms and blizzards. This information enables herders to make informed decisions on where to move their herds, as demonstrated by herder Ganchimeg, whose husband located a stray flock near a salt lake in time to prevent potential fatalities. The solar-powered GPS devices are attached to a single animal within a herd, leveraging the natural tendency of herds to stay together on steppe pastures...
