The sudden mass death of rare antelopes in Kazakhstan over the past two weeks has investigators scrambling to solve the case before the species is rendered extinct.
So far 120,000 otherwise healthy saigas of all ages have literally dropped dead in their tracks from either something poisonous introduced into their diet, or killer germs of unknown origin.
That number represents almost half of the breed’s world population, unfortunately, and the staggering rate of antelope attrition means two more weeks is roughly all the vulnerable animals have left before they fade into oblivion.
Although the saiga have been considered endangered for decades, they’ve been rebounding in recent years, and a professor at the Royal Veterinary College in London confirmed that "a 100-percent mortality for the herds affected is extraordinary."
It’s not known if the stressors that are causing the collective saiga die-off are manmade, and, if so, what the motive would be, but nature itself is notoriously homicidal too, and more merciless than a serial killer when it targets creatures for annihilation.
Although foul play hasn’t been ruled out then, UN officials believe the inexplicable saiga slaughter is due to "a combination of biological and environmental factors" which is likely being further exacerbated by severe climate change -- in this case an unusual amount of rain.
"Unseasonal wetness may have been something that lowered their immunity to infection, but until we do more analysis we will not know anything for sure," cautioned Steffen Zuther of the Altyn Dala Conservation Initiative.
At the request of the Kazakhstan government, a team of international experts has descended on the country this week to investigate the “catastrophic” mass death of rare antelopes since mid-May, and, hopefully, to find a solution before it’s too late.
