A Saiga entered a bar. The bartender asked, “Why the long face?” Saiga responded, “A long nose helps filter out dust in the summer and warm cold air in the winter. Female saigas also prefer bigger horns.”
However, the enlarged double snout of the saiga isn’t the oddest thing about the animal.
In May 2015, during breeding season, a significant number of saigas in central Kazakhstan suddenly collapsed and died, including both adults and young.
Within weeks, around 200,000 saiga antelopes died, accounting for 60% of the global population.
Saigas have been living in the Eurasian steppe grasslands of Central Asia for millennia, but their population declined due to poaching in the 19th century. Conservation efforts were put in place, yet a mysterious mass die-off in 2015 shocked researchers. Autopsy tests were conducted, linking the cause to the Pasteurella multocida bacterium possibly due to a virus or toxic rocket fuel exposure.
Historical data showed similar die-offs in the 1980s following hot and wet weather periods. Researchers fear that climate change could increase the occurrence of such events.
The saiga antelope population, now closely monitored and protected, is slowly recovering. Despite being downgraded from “endangered” to “near threatened” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the future of these animals remains uncertain.
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Source: www.sciencefocus.com
