RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Saigas on the brink: Multidisciplinary analysis of the factors influencing mass mortality events
JF Science Advances
JO Sci Adv
FD American Association for the Advancement of Science
SP eaao2314
DO 10.1126/sciadv.aao2314
VO 4
IS 1
A1 Kock, Richard A.
A1 Orynbayev, Mukhit
A1 Robinson, Sarah
A1 Zuther, Steffen
A1 Singh, Navinder J.
A1 Beauvais, Wendy
A1 Morgan, Eric R.
A1 Kerimbayev, Aslan
A1 Khomenko, Sergei
A1 Martineau, Henny M.
A1 Rystaeva, Rashida
A1 Omarova, Zamira
A1 Wolfs, Sara
A1 Hawotte, Florent
A1 Radoux, Julien
A1 Milner-Gulland, Eleanor J.
YR 2018
UL http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/4/1/eaao2314.abstract
AB In 2015, more than 200,000 saiga antelopes died in 3 weeks in central Kazakhstan. The proximate cause of death is confirmed as hemorrhagic septicemia caused by the bacterium Pasteurella multocida type B, based on multiple strands of evidence. Statistical modeling suggests that there was unusually high relative humidity and temperature in the days leading up to the mortality event; temperature and humidity anomalies were also observed in two previous similar events in the same region. The modeled influence of environmental covariates is consistent with known drivers of hemorrhagic septicemia. Given the saiga population’s vulnerability to mass mortality and the likely exacerbation of climate-related and environmental stressors in the future, management of risks to population viability such as poaching and viral livestock disease is urgently needed, as well as robust ongoing veterinary surveillance. A multidisciplinary approach is needed to research mass mortality events under rapid environmental change.