Saiga Antelopes Mysteriously Die-Off in Kazakhstan
Saiga antelopes, a bizarre-looking and critically endangered species, are mysteriously dying off in Kazakhstan at an alarming rate, officials said Wednesday, raising fears that a species that has been around since the Ice Age may be on its way to extinction.
In April, Kazakhstan was home to 250,000 saigas. But now, around 40 percent of the Central Asian nation’s population of saigas, or 120,000 animals, has died in the past month, setting back conservation efforts.
So what could possibly be killing these critically endangered animals? The reason is still unclear, so the Royal Veterinary College (RVC) in Hatfield in the United Kingdom has sent out a team of veterinarians to Kazakhstan to find out. According to these experts, the bacteria Pasteurella and Clostridia are likely behind the mass die-offs.
(Photo : USFWS/Wikimedia Commons)
Final official death count: 134,252 animals.
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