Last month I wrote a short piece for Nature on the alarming and as-yet unexplained mass mortality of saiga antelope in Kazakhstan in May. I spoke at length to E.J. Milner-Gulland, a conservation biologist at Imperial College London and chair of Saiga Conservation Alliance. Last week, the charity launched an appeal to raise urgent funds in support of their efforts. Here is an edited transcript of the interview.

Henry Nicholls: What is the latest news from Kazakhstan?

E.J. Milner-Gulland: More than 134,000 saigas died in the space of just two weeks in May. This is about half of the global population.

In affected herds, there was 100% mortality Photograph: © Albert Salemgareyev, ACBK

HN: What has caused this?

EJM-G: It’s too early to jump to conclusions. It’s likely that it’s a complex of causes. It’s likely there is some kind of infection but that there are predisposing environmental factors.



HN: Like what?

EJM-G: There are all sorts of possibilities. Saigas are moving further north now than they have done in the past and may be encountering different pastures. Large amounts of rainfall can pose a problem, with lush grasses causing bloat. We need to rule out the transmission of disease from livestock.

HN: This is not the first time there has been this kind of die-off?

EJM-G: It’s unusual to have something this big, but mass mortality is not uncommon in ungulates. The Mongolian gazelle had a mass die-off in the 1980s, for instance. It happens in wildebeest and white-tailed deer. The saiga population suffered several unexplained mass mortality events in the 1980s. It might have something to do with the calving aggregation. The saiga come together in the spring in vast numbers to give birth and the animals seem to be particularly vulnerable at this time. There have been similar die-offs each year since 2010, but we do not have a satisfactory explanation for what is going on.

This time is the first time we are going to be able to get a good diagnosis.

HN: What are the chances of getting answers this time?

EJM-G: In 2010, there was limited capacity within Kazakhstan to collect, process and analyse samples urgently. This time round the lab in Kazakhstan is much better prepared. This time is the first time we are going to be able to get a good diagnosis. Kazakh scientists, with support from the international community, have performed autopsies of 50 animals and the data are being analysed now.



Dead animals have been buried in mass graves Photograph: © Sergei Khomenko

HN: If mass mortality is a feature of saiga biology, why is it so important to find out what’s happening?

EJM-G: If we understand the factors that contribute to these events, we may be able to mitigate or prevent them in the future. This is important because three of the four remaining populations of saiga are at such low levels that an event like this could wipe them out completely. Hunting is a serious problem. We need to get all these populations to a level that is actually resilient enough to cope with the natural mass mortalities that happen in the saiga antelope. Anti-poaching needs to be a top priority for the Russian and Kazakh governments.

HN: The Saiga Conservation Alliance has just launched a fundraising appeal. What are the specific aims of the Saiga Crisis Fund?

EJM-G: We are hoping to raise £30,000 by August. This money will be used to assist with the investigation and also to equip anti-poaching teams to protect those saigas that remain.



If you would like to support the Saiga Conservation Alliance, here are two ways you can do so:

