Why 200,000 Antelope Dropped Dead in 3 Weeks

By Stephanie Pappas, Live Science Contributor | January 23, 2018 11:01am ET

Credit: Courtesy of the Joint saiga health monitoring team in Kazakhstan (Association for the Conservation of Biodiversity, Kazakhstan, Biosafety Institute, Gvardeskiy RK, Royal Veterinary College, London, UK)

One day in May of 2015, a handful of critically endangered saiga antelope dropped over, dead. This wasn't necessarily alarming to the scientists in the area who were busy monitoring the herd; the saiga antelope (Saiga tatarica tatarica) of the Central Asian steppe are stressed in springtime, which is calving season, and deaths happen every day. But the next day, more antelope died. On day three, they were dropping by the hundreds.

Within three weeks, 200,000 saiga antelope — 62 percent of the world's population — were dead. And now, scientists have learned that the killer was lurking inside the animals all along.

A new study reveals that the ruminants were killed by a bacterium that normally lives in the antelopes' tonsils without causing any problems. But unusually warm, moist weather apparently triggered the overgrowth of the bacteria, Pasteurella multocida, which subsequently found its way into the antelopes' bloodstream and killed them. [Photos: Mass Death of the Saiga Antelope]

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Endangered antelope 'may be wiped out'

By Victoria Gill Science reporter, BBC News

7 February 2017

The death of more than 2,000 critically endangered Saiga antelope in Mongolia was caused by a disease that could now threaten the entire population.

Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) scientists, who work in the affected grassland area of Western Mongolia, say the disease originated in livestock.

It is a virus known as PPR or Peste des Petits Ruminants.

WCS veterinary scientist Dr Enkhtuvshin Shiilegdamba told BBC News that 2,500 Saiga had already died.

Researchers described the speed of the disease spread as "alarming".

"The first case of PPR was confirmed in the Saiga on only 2nd January this year," Dr Shiilegdamba told BBC News.

She and her colleagues say that this is the first deadly infectious outbreak known to have occurred in this population of animals. And beyond this one, rare species, there is concern for the impact on the wider grassland ecosystem.

"Many other species share this same range," explained Dr Shiilegdamba, "including ibex and big-horned sheep."

"If this [spreads east] and hits the gazelle population, it could be economically and ecologically devastating."

One major concern is that, with the disappearance of wildlife in the area, there will be a lack of prey for the endemic snow leopard. As well as affecting the health and population of these carnivores, this could put leopards at greater risk of being shot by farmers - as a lack of wild prey drives them to take livestock.

Professor Richard Kock from the UK's Royal Veterinary College agreed that the broader ecological consequences were potentially "dire". 

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Saiga antelope numbers rise after mass die-off

Shreya Dasgupta for Mongabay, part of the Guardian Environment Network

Monday 20 June 201612.46 BST

Last year, catastrophe hit saiga antelopes in Kazakhstan. About 200,000 of these critically endangered antelopes died in Betpak-Dala in May, deeply worrying conservationists. The deaths, scientists eventually found, were most likely caused by bacterial infection.

But there may be hope for these severely threatened migratory mammals.

A recent aerial survey of saigas carried out from April 18 to May 3, 2016 has revealed that the numbers of all three saiga populations in Kazakhstan—Ural, Betpak-Dala and Ustyurt — are going up. The surveys were conducted by the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Kazakhstan in partnership with the Association for the Conservation of Biodiversity of Kazakhstan (ACBK) and JSC “Kazaviaspas”, Kazakhstan government announced on Tuesday.

“The news about recovering saiga populations in Kazakhstan is a sign of hope after the catastrophic mass saiga die-off event in 2015,” Bradnee Chambers, Executive Secretary of the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS), said in a statement.

The surveys counted a total of 108,300 adult saigas. The Ural population has about 70,200 individuals, up from 51,700 in 2015, while the Ustyurt population has around 1,900 individuals, up from 1,200 in 2015. The Betpak-Dala population also showed promise with about 36,200 individuals, the results revealed.

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More than half of saiga antelopes mysteriously die off in two week span

NOVEMBER 5, 2015

by Chuck Bednar

A mysterious event in which tens of thousands of endangered antelopes died off en masse, first observed back in May, was more extensive than previously believed, with experts now saying that more than half of the saiga population may have been wiped out.

Initial estimates had placed the death toll at Betpak-dala in Kazakhstan, the calving grounds of the largest saiga population, at 120,000, according to the New York Times. But aerial observations conducted later in the summer revealed fewer survivors than expected, and now scientists believe that at least 211,000 saigas, or 88 percent of the Betpak-dala population, are dead.

The Guardian reported Tuesday that at least 150,000 adult saiga were buried over a two week span in May. However, researchers admit that the actual death toll is likely far higher, as many bodies were discovered but not added to the total, and that hundreds of thousands of calves that were also killed were not included in the figures.

Is this the end of the line for the saiga antelopes?

Prior to the mass deaths, the estimated global saiga population was estimated to be between 250,000 and 320,000—90 percent of which lived in the affected area. The deaths, which have been blamed on a ordinarily harmless bacteria that suddenly and inexplicably became virulent, has scientists deeply concerned about the future of the antelope species.

“I’ve worked in wildlife disease all my life, and I thought I’d seen some pretty grim things, but this takes the biscuit,” Richard A. Kock from the Royal Veterinary College in London, told theTimes, noting that he and his colleagues believe the combination of climate change and stormy spring weather may have been what transformed the microbe into a deadly pathogen.

Read on…

Thousands of Saiga Antelope die in mass mortality mystery

Nearly 140, 000 of the critically endangered saiga antelope (saiga tatarica), which lives in the Central Asian steppe, have died suddenly in Kazakhstan, almost half the global population, over a two week period.

The reason for this mass die-off is still unknown, and the mystery continues to baffle conservationists, who arrived in the breeding areas to find entire herds dying or dead on the ground, the majority consisting of mothers and new born calves. Herds several kilometres apart succumbed at the same time, mystifying scientists as to what has caused this population crash.

Nida Al Fulaij, from one of the charities involved in investigating the circumstances, People’s Trust for Endangered Species, says, "PTES has been supporting work on saiga antelope through the Saiga Conservation Alliance for some years and, because we have such strong links with the teams on the ground, we are able to respond quickly to channel much needed financial support where it’s most needed. This event is simply catastrophic for the long term survival of this critically endangered species.

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Endangered saiga antelope mysteriously dying in vast numbers in Kazakhstan

The number of saiga plummeted in the 1990s as a result of poaching

Monday 25 May 2015

Authorities in Kazakhstan says around one-third of the endangered saiga antelope population in this Central Asian nation has mysteriously died off in the last few days.

Kazakhstan's agriculture ministry said Friday the number of saiga that have died may have reached 85,000.

The ministry says it suspects the animals, which are recognizable for their distinctive humped snout, may have been struck by an epidemic of pasteurellosis caused by a bacterial infection. Officials say international veterinarian experts have been flown to Kazakhstan to study other possible causes for the catastrophic die-off.

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12,000 critically endangered Saiga antelope found dead in Kazakhstan

Mass mortality among Saigas in Kazakhstan: 12,000 dead


June 2010. Nearly 12,000 Critically Endangered Saiga antelopes have been found dead in the Ural population in western Kazakhstan.

"This is a tragic and shocking event. It's particularly unfortunate that the population was just emerging from an unusually harsh winter, and that those struck down are mostly females and this year's calves," said Prof. E.J. Milner-Gulland, Chair of the Saiga Conservation Alliance and a member of IUCN Species Survival Commission Antelope Specialist Group.

95% decline in population since 1995The official 2009 estimate of the size of the Ural population was 26,000 animals. The Saiga is listed as Critically



Endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species due to a 95% decline in its population size since 1995, caused by uncontrolled poaching in the aftermath of the break-up of the Soviet Union. It has only five populations, which are found in Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Mongolia. In the last few years it has been showing some recovery, thanks to conservation efforts, however, the Ural population is the only group of Saiga without an internationally-supported conservation programme.


Deaths causes as yet unknown
The cause of the deaths is still unclear and under investigation. Although the deaths are currently being ascribed to the bacteria pasteurellosis, the underlying trigger remains to be identified. Pasteurellosis is caused by a bacterium that lives naturally in healthy individuals, but can cause acute illness and rapid death if the animal's immune system is compromised, either by another infection, poisoning, stress or malnutrition. Any of these explanations are possible.

"The Ural population has been relatively neglected by international conservation until now, but hopefully this event will bring government, national and international conservationists together to mount a coordinated response to save this remote population," said Milner-Gulland.

The Committee on Forestry and Hunting of the Kazakhstan within the Ministry of Agriculture has mounted a rapid response. These efforts are now being aided by local NGO, the Association for the Conservation of Biodiversity in Kazakhstan, with the support of the Saiga Conservation Alliance, who are helping the government to investigate the cause of death. In addition, IUCN's Antelope Specialist Group members have been active in advising these organizations.

Courtesy of the Saiga Conservation Alliance