60,000 Antelopes Died in 4 Days

[space otter]

edit -  forgot the link
http://www.livescience.com/52032-saiga-die-off-mystery.html

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

LiveScience.com
By Tia Ghose
September 3, 2015 8:29 AM

In May 2015, nearly half of all the saigas, a critically endangered antelope that roams the steppe of Kazakhstan, died off.

It started in late May.





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.

"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. [See Images of the Saiga Mass Die-Off]

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 extent of this die-off, and the speed it had, by spreading throughout the whole calving herd and killing all the animals, this has not been observed for any other species," Zuther said. "It's really unheard of."

Crucial steppe players

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. [Images: Ancient Beasts of the Arctic]

"Where you find saiga, we recognize also that the other species are much more abundant," Zuther told Live Science.

Saigas, which are listed as critically endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, live in a few herds in Kazakhstan, one small herd in Russia and a herd in Mongolia. The herds congregate with other herds during the cold winters, as well as when they migrate to other parts of Kazakhstan, during the fall and spring. The herds split up to calve their young during the late spring and early summer. The die-off started during the calving period.

Die-offs of saigas, including one that felled 12,000 of the stately creatures last year, have occurred frequently in recent years. But the large expanse of the country affected by last year's die-off meant veterinarians couldn't get to the animals until long after their deaths. The delay hindered any determination of a cause of death, and researchers eventually speculated that an abundance of greenery caused digestion problems, which led to bacterial overgrowth in the animals' guts.

Detailed analysis

This time, field workers were already on the ground, so they were able to take detailed samples of the saigas' environment — the rocks the animals walked on and the soil they crossed — as well as the water the animals drank and the vegetation they ate in the months and weeks leading up to the die-off. The scientists also took samples of the ticks and other insects that feed on saiga, hoping to find some triggering cause.

The researchers additionally conducted high-quality necropsies of the animals, and even observed the behavior of some of the animals as they died. The females, which cluster together to calve their young, were hit the hardest. They died first, followed by their calves, which were still too young to eat any vegetation. That sequence suggested that whatever was killing off the animals was being transmitted through the mothers' milk, Zuther said.

Tissue samples revealed that toxins, produced by Pasteurella and possibly Clostridia bacteria, caused extensive bleeding in most of the animals' organs. But Pasteurella is found normally in the bodies of ruminants like the saigas, and it usually doesn't cause harm unless the animals have weakened immune systems.

Genetic analysis so far has only deepened the mystery, as the bacteria found were the garden-variety, disease-causing type.

"There is nothing so special about it. The question is why it developed so rapidly and spread to all the animals," Zuther said.

Mystery endures

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.

So far, the only possible environmental cause was that there was a cold, hard winter followed by a wet spring, with lots of lush vegetation and standing water on the ground that could enable bacteria to spread more easily, Zuther said. That by itself doesn't seem so unusual, though, he said.

Another possibility is that such flash crashes are inevitable responses to some natural variations in the environment, he said. Zuther said he and his colleagues plan to continue their search for a cause of the die-off.

Follow Tia Ghose on Twitterand Google+. Follow Live Science @livescience, Facebook & Google+. Original article on Live Science.

[Dyna]

So sad
http://www.end-times-prophecy.org/animal-deaths-birds-fish-end-times.html

Environmentalists call for an international investigation into the death in Kazakhstan, nearly 130 thousand of rare animals

Russian missiles located at the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, Russian leased. Recently, several rockets "Proton-M" exploded shortly after launch that as ecologists believe, could not but have an extremely negative effect on nature

https://translate.google.co.uk/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.svoboda.org%2Fcontent%2Farticle%2F27047595.html&edit-text=&act=url

[Gigas]

The planets animal and crop human food chain is being culled. Fish, cows, horses, birds and crops are being reduced by artificial means beside radiation contamination of the oceans.

We had bird die offs back in the 2010/2011 time period. Over west of me here in Wisconsin, about 100 miles they had well over 200 cattle go belly up to the sky, over night, back in 2011.

Recently they killed millions of chickens and turkeys for bird flu or something like it.

Someone wants calamity and they know by destroying the food chain, it will cause panic.

[rdunk]

Nothing real complicated - as has been presented by Al Gore and many others, this die off is a direct result of "GLOBAL WARMING"! Doesn't everyone know this already??  (TIC) Even President OBAMA has been talking about the catastrophes around the Globe that we all should expect as a result of global warming!!

I suppose we should take comfort in our knowing that all 60,000 of these antelope were going to die otherwise anyway, but just not all at once!!

Actually, how do we know - -  these antelope deaths may have been caused by some sort of ET event!! Or maybe it was a suicide pact they all agreed to!!

60,000 is a lot of antelope - I wonder who counted each and every one of them??

[zorgon]

Rocket Fuel... over decades of saturating the area

"One possible suspect in the die-off event is rocket fuel from decades of launches from Baikonur"
http://mashable.com/2015/05/28/un-collapse-antelope-kazakhstan/


"Anti-Heptyl, a name that references compounds used in rocket fuel."
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/may/21/kazakhstan-mass-antelope-death-mystery


From Pegasus

Space Junk, Toxic Fuel Rains Down on Siberian Region

Written by Nancy Atkinson
March 17th, 2008

People from the normally quiet and picturesque republic of Altai, Siberia keep their eyes on the sky when a launch occurs from the nearby Baikonur Cosmodrome, in Kazakhstan. This region is regularly littered with debris and toxic fuel from space launches, as Altai lies along the flight path of rocket launches to space. Unlike rockets launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, which shed excess stages into the Atlantic Ocean, sections from rockets launched from Baikonur crash back on land, usually landing in the Altai region of the Kazakh steppe.

Two incidents of falling debris in the past two weeks prompted farmers to file claims against the Russian space agency for damages. Four horses were reportedly killed from traces of toxic fuel in found in space debris that landed on grazing land and another 4.5 meter chunk of metal landed very close to a house.

According to the Moscow Times, the Russian Federal Space Agency and Altai authorities have designated a strip of land where rocket debris is supposed to fall. People who live in the zone are given at least 24 hours' notice of falling debris. Only those outside the zone are entitled to any compensation for damage caused by the launches.

The two recent incidents both occurred outside the zone, an official said.

All space-bound rockets consist largely of fuel tanks and booster stages that fall back to earth when spent, never reaching orbit. In landlocked Baikonur, Russia's primary launching complex in Kazakhstan, these spaceships crash to earth. This photo essay visits the areas where the supporting rockets land, and shows the people living under the flight paths who contend with flaming spaceship wrecks several times each month.

Apart from the fear of having a spaceship crash through their roofs, residents in the area complain of the ill effects of leftover toxic rocket fuel. With the relocation of Russian military launches, more than half of which currently take off from Baikonur, these people may get some relief. However, one group of people is probably sorry to see Baikonur lose business; the region's scrap metal dealers are getting rich trading metal from the rockets' titanium alloy hulls.

http://www.thelivingmoon.com/41pegasus/02files/Space_Debris_04.html

[space otter]

wellllllllll  I think just like the algae blooms in the water  the bacteria on land is affected by the
weather... and could very easily go toxic..just my opinion

[zorgon]

That would be a fitting end for Hu-mons..

INVASION OF THE TOXIC MOLD SPORES!!!!

[burntheships]

Hmmm,

I suppose there could be complications from the
wetness, and the forage. Though, that was ruled
out as not toxic.

In previous times, cattle have been affected by
grazing on wet clover, which was eventualy toxic.

But it seems there is more here than wet forage,
and mold....sad in any case.

[space otter]

Tissue samples revealed that toxins, produced by Pasteurella and possibly Clostridia bacteria, caused extensive bleeding in most of the animals' organs. But Pasteurella is found normally in the bodies of ruminants like the saigas, and it usually doesn't cause harm unless the animals have weakened immune systems.

Genetic analysis so far has only deepened the mystery, as the bacteria found were the garden-variety, disease-causing type.

"There is nothing so special about it. The question is why it developed so rapidly and spread to all the animals," Zuther said.

there is mad cow  and deer die off and a number of other things that are strange

[burntheships]

there is mad cow  and deer die off

Yes...some "critters" are long term.
Misfolded proteins are bad juju...
they lurk for a long time. Maybe some
other influence, as Z said ...rocket fuel?

Beautiful creatures they are. Seeing hundreds
of dead cows is not quite the same.

ETA: Yes I agree Sky, it could be mold with
natures complications. Sad.