South Sudan’s ongoing conflict is creating an unprecedented crisis in the country: the large-scale displacement of millions of cattle and other livestock, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization. And if left unaddressed, it could threaten the future of the national herd.

Over the course of the year-long conflict, livestock have been displaced from the conflict-affected areas into “agricultural zones outside their traditional pastoral domains,” the FAO reports. This includes areas of the Greater Equatorias and Bahr-el-Ghazals, as well as the northeastern tip of Upper Nile state.

These livestock are creating significant problems. They are concentrating in small, traditionally agricultural areas, which has “challenged the local power structures, squeezed natural resource availability and altered disease patterns,” according to the FAO. This has prompted a sharp rise in tribal conflicts, cattle raids and disease outbreaks. It could also result in severe food shortages for the pastoral communities who are moving with their livestock.

Among other interventions, FAO is attempting to strengthen the vaccination chain to keep as many cattle healthy as possible. But the group warns that it will be difficult if fighting continues.