60,000 Antelopes Died in 4 Days — And No One Knows Why

When geoecologist Steffen Zuther and his colleagues arrived in central Kazakhstan to monitor the calving of one herd of saigas, a critically endangered, steppe-dwelling antelope, veterinarians in the area had already reported dead animals on the ground.

Death is natural, but not quite to this extent.

"But since there happened to be die-offs of limited extent during the last years, at first we were not really alarmed," Zuther, the international coordinator of the Altyn Dala Conservation Initiative, told Live Science.

But within four days, the entire herd — 60,000 saiga — had died. As veterinarians and conservationists tried to stem the die-off, they also got word of similar population crashes in other herds across Kazakhstan. By early June, the mass dying was over.

A similar mass die-off of 400,000 saigas occurred in 1988, and veterinarians reported similar symptoms. But because that die-off occurred during Soviet times, researchers simply listed Pasteurellosis, the disease caused by Pasteurella, as the cause and performed no other investigation, Zuther added.

My first guess is that it was some sort of poison. Come to find out though is that it was (at some point) a seemingly harmless microbe, until now.

Now, the researchers have found clues as to how more than half of the country's herd, counted at 257,000 as of 2014, died so rapidly. Bacteria clearly played a role in the saigas' demise. But exactly how these normally harmless microbes could take such a toll is still a mystery, Zuther said.

The species affected were know as Saigas (antelope). They were also listed as "critically endangered" Therefor this die off may take a number on their days.

Saigas play a critical role in the ecosystem of the arid grassland steppe, where the cold winters prevent fallen plant material from decomposing; the grazing of the dog-size, Gonzo-nosed antelopes helps to break down that organic matter, recycling nutrients in the ecosystem and preventing wildfires fueled by too much leaf litter on the ground. The animals also provide tasty meals for the predators of the steppe, Zuther said.

Could the ground may have been contaminated with something that is yet to be known? Or has this "microbe" genetically mutated itself such as the avian bird flu of the past?

Link here

Thanks. Interesting read. Perhaps it is related to the nuclear fallout of Chernobyl or the Fukushima disaster.

Makes my heart ache

It's those damn Sasquatch!!

the bacteria usually doesn't cause harm unless the animals have weakened immune systems.

M-M-Mass extinction alarm! This is the first test to mass extinct humans. Reduce human population. The ultimate wipeout. Introduce an unseen virus which transfers by air and weakens the immune system to a point, that any bacteria will kill the host. AIDS is a joke against that.

PS: I pulled that conspiracy theory just out of my a... but could it be?

the only thing i can think of that would cause such a thing is something in the animals water or food source but even then we would see other animals being affected?

even with some kind of disease, some of the herd would have been immune and again we would see the effects in other species.. this is very strange and the cause will likely turn out to be a simple one

a reply to: KnightFire

The more co2 and greenhouse gases (i think increased methane especially) in the atmosphere and the warmer atmosphere brings about increased levels of bacteria/mutations. I read about it somewhere.

a reply to: slapjacks

I believe this 'die-off' should be seen in the context of other strange mass group deaths of animals. There is some sort of process on Earth by which this happens with increasing regularity ... I believe it indicates either tests of weapons or weaponised substances or interference with unknown vectors or even unknown electromagnetic or particle fields.

originally posted by: Kapriti
a reply to: slapjacks

I believe this 'die-off' should be seen in the context of other strange mass group deaths of animals. There is some sort of process on Earth by which this happens with increasing regularity ... I believe it indicates either tests of weapons or weaponised substances or interference with unknown vectors or even unknown electromagnetic or particle fields.

The scary part of it all, which you mention. Is the "increasing regularity"

Why not just blame CERN?

a reply to: slapjacks

It could have a self balancing thingy . Most of the natural predators as well as regulated culls sometimes can cause stress on the local environments that could end up with a die off . Some animals like moose need large tracks of land to move about in .Hard to imagine the large heards of Bison that once migrated and thrived in North America but now are small in numbers by comparison . Deer herds seem to fluctuate from few in some years to large amounts in other years .

They never seem to go instinct but can become few and far between at times .

Thanks, Obama!

Are there indigenous people who rely on the herds to survive and thereby remain on their lands? Maybe some Putin backed Russian Mafioso wants to run some pipes through and those pesky natives having claims to the land are in the way of progress?

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus


Thanks, Obama!

Putin probably says this to himself every day he wakes up.

Must be Fukushima.

(please don't take that seriously)

it might be one of those situations that cannot be explained away with a simple answer however it looks a lot like an environmental catastrophe something they couldnt tolerate, lots of fish are also washing up dead lately, global warming ?

a reply to: blacktie

It's El nino so warmer waters bring more die offs in the oceans. Ocean acidification and overfishing don't help either.

People have short memories, but die offs are common, though humanity has accelerated this through our actions.

I think we've had threads on this before, and someone in one of those threads mentioned that saiga are prone to these mysterious die-offs. It might be that there is some trigger in the environment or in the saiga themselves that suddenly makes these microbes turn toxic.

Like some kind of red tide of the steppe or something ...

originally posted by: pl3bscheese
Must be Fukushima.

(please don't take that seriously)

why not?

I'm of the opinion Fukushima is playing a significant part in strange animal events.

Just because we believe we're the smartest most intelligent species doesn't mean we understand everything that's going on in regards to radiation release in the atmosphere.

also, I don't for a second believe any governments when it comes to an event like this. Its in their interests to downplay the truth.. just look at Deep-water.. typical energy corporation lies.