• 60k antelope died in 4 days
    54 replies, posted
[quote] [img]http://i.imgur.com/4jJ0RZk.jpg[/img] [img]http://www.iflscience.com/sites/www.iflscience.com/files/styles/ifls_large/public/blog/%5Bnid%5D/shutterstock_141823939.jpg?itok=HUtxng7a[/img] You may remember in May when there was a mass die-off of around 85,000 endangered saiga antelopes. Now, the same thing has happened again, and researchers are just as helpless to stop it. Researchers recently arrived in Kazakhstan to monitor a herd of these antelopes as there had been reports of multiple deaths. "But since there happened to be die-offs of limited extent during the last years, at first we were not really alarmed," Steffen Zuther, a geoecologist, told Live Science. Now there has been a second bout of deaths, this time 60,000 antelopes have fallen foul to this unknown perpetrator. "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." [/quote] [url=http://www.cbsnews.com/news/60000-antelope-died-in-4-days-and-no-one-knows-why/]Source[/url] [url=http://www.nbcnews.com/science/environment/60-000-antelope-died-four-days-no-one-knows-why-n421056]Source[/url] [url=http://www.iflscience.com/plants-and-animals/second-inexplicable-die-60000-antelope]Source[/url]
It's continuing still, and it hasn't really reached regular news.
Do we have any idea why?
[QUOTE=Zillamaster55;48621219]It's continuing still, and it hasn't really reached regular news.[/QUOTE] There's 2 articles I'm aware of being posted on both CBS and NBS news. [url]http://www.cbsnews.com/news/60000-antelope-died-in-4-days-and-no-one-knows-why/[/url] [url]http://www.nbcnews.com/science/environment/60-000-antelope-died-four-days-no-one-knows-why-n421056[/url] [QUOTE=~Kiwi~v2;48621228]60K christ that's a lot. Also don't read the comment section of this. There's already a video game reference in it as well as some idiotic ones[/QUOTE] I didn't know there were comments on the site. Ghostery blocks stuff like that for me automatically.
Didn't this happen with deer somewhere sometime in 1980-1981?
[QUOTE=~Kiwi~v2;48621234]Again in the comments which you shouldn't read but I am and cringing whilst doing it. People are speculating HAARP or toxic clouds/air.[/QUOTE] On the bright side someone speculating prion disease. [t]http://i.imgur.com/hBWIyzZ.png[/t]
How in the world of fuck?
[QUOTE=ZakkShock;48621221]Do we have any idea why?[/QUOTE] [quote] 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. [/quote] The question isnt so much "what killed them" as it is "what caused this to kill them". Mass die off of ungulate populations arent in themselves unheard of, even if a bit strange. The question here is what is causing them to be so succeptible to bacteria assuming it is the bacteria that kills them. Anything from weakened immune systems, stress caused from environmental change, and basically anything that would illicit a change in the animals ability to handle infection could be to blame. [QUOTE=chipsnapper2;48621239]Didn't this happen with deer somewhere sometime in 1980-1981?[/QUOTE] It has occured in a number of Ungulates periodically for quite some time, but the largest in the 1980's was the mongolian gazelle iirc. Due to the time, and constraints of the mongolian government, I dont recall it ever being properly investigated. The thing with this die off is that it is most likely not something foreign to the animals. Rarely do you see a virus or transmittable infection cause 100% mortality within days. Most likely, and as the journals purport, SOMETHING is causing the bacteria already present to be able to run rampant and uncontested in the populations. That something is what the researchers are hoping to discover.
Wierd. Heres to hope this doesnt escalate further.
I would expect fracking or something wonder what it is
[QUOTE=~Kiwi~v2;48621285] see that's a little bit more reasonable, speculation thou, no real hard evidence as to why it's happening [/QUOTE] you can find the prion in the body and the spread of this is too fast. plus if it worked like mad cow, you would see the scavengers die as well.
[QUOTE=JohnFisher89;48621455]I would expect fracking or something wonder what it is[/QUOTE] If I remember correctly, the Saiga antelope had large die-offs for a long time before fracking, but this scale has never been seen.
I hope they can collect the carcasses for butchering before they start to rot, at roughly 120~ pounds 60k antelope bodies is about 2448 tons of meat, or 4,896,000 pounds, or 2,220,788 kilograms. If each one processes like a deer, 50 unskilled workers with basic supervision can have about 270 processed per hour, so if multiple teams went out and field-stripped they could get a decent amount before predators and bacteria set in, though in some cases the meat may be a little gamey.
[QUOTE=JumpinJackFlash;48621646]I hope they can collect the carcasses for butchering before they start to rot, at roughly 120~ pounds 60k antelope bodies is about 2448 tons of meat, or 4,896,000 pounds, or 2,220,788 kilograms. If each one processes like a deer, 50 unskilled workers with basic supervision can have about 270 processed per hour, so if multiple teams went out and field-stripped they could get a decent amount before predators and bacteria set in, though in some cases the meat may be a little gamey.[/QUOTE] In that sort of climate the meat starts rotting in hours. I dont think going to butcher them is realistic.
[QUOTE=JumpinJackFlash;48621646]I hope they can collect the carcasses for butchering before they start to rot, at roughly 120~ pounds 60k antelope bodies is about 2448 tons of meat, or 4,896,000 pounds, or 2,220,788 kilograms. If each one processes like a deer, 50 unskilled workers with basic supervision can have about 270 processed per hour, so if multiple teams went out and field-stripped they could get a decent amount before predators and bacteria set in, though in some cases the meat may be a little gamey.[/QUOTE] Yes but what happens if whatever killed these antelope is zoonotic? When you have an animal dying of an infectious illness that you cant place, the first step shouldnt be to eat them.
How long until whatever killed them jumps species? We're the intended vector. [t]http://www.ridemonkey.com/images/smilies/xtinfoil.gif[/t]
[QUOTE=JumpinJackFlash;48621646]I hope they can collect the carcasses for butchering before they start to rot, at roughly 120~ pounds 60k antelope bodies is about 2448 tons of meat, or 4,896,000 pounds, or 2,220,788 kilograms. If each one processes like a deer, 50 unskilled workers with basic supervision can have about 270 processed per hour, so if multiple teams went out and field-stripped they could get a decent amount before predators and bacteria set in, though in some cases the meat may be a little gamey.[/QUOTE] I don't think this plan is feasible or even a good idea at all.
Maybe they die from their sheer stupidity. Maybe they just collectively forget how to breathe, wouldn't surprise me.
Can they at least be harvested or something?
[QUOTE=JumpinJackFlash;48621646]I hope they can collect the carcasses for butchering before they start to rot, at roughly 120~ pounds 60k antelope bodies is about 2448 tons of meat, or 4,896,000 pounds, or 2,220,788 kilograms. If each one processes like a deer, 50 unskilled workers with basic supervision can have about 270 processed per hour, so if multiple teams went out and field-stripped they could get a decent amount before predators and bacteria set in, though in some cases the meat may be a little gamey.[/QUOTE] yeah sure let's eat the meat of animals that suddenly died of mysterious and unknown reason nothing can go wrong there
This is scary. Imagine if the same would happen to humans ?
-snip-
[QUOTE=426_Hemi;48622141]This is scary. Imagine if the same would happen to humans ?[/QUOTE] It... it has.
[img]http://i.imgur.com/4jJ0RZk.jpg[/img] That's really fucking creepy. Whatever did this must've done it incredibly quickly.
[QUOTE=426_Hemi;48622141]This is scary. Imagine if the same would happen to humans ?[/QUOTE] ...the black death happened, ykno
I read that the animals were bloated, had diarrhea and were foaming around their mouths. Someone tied it to the plants they were eating.
This rings a bell. I remember reading or watching a documentary about plants that communicate with each other via means of air travel and root systems. [url]https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg12717361-200-antelope-activate-the-acacias-alarm-system/[/url] Basically, the Acacia trees warn each other of incoming antelope populations by releasing chemical messengers through the air. This causes other down-wind Acacia to increase toxins in their plant material. You can figure out the rest. Very interesting stuff.
[QUOTE=JumpinJackFlash;48621646]I hope they can collect the carcasses for butchering before they start to rot, at roughly 120~ pounds 60k antelope bodies is about 2448 tons of meat, or 4,896,000 pounds, or 2,220,788 kilograms. If each one processes like a deer, 50 unskilled workers with basic supervision can have about 270 processed per hour, so if multiple teams went out and field-stripped they could get a decent amount before predators and bacteria set in, though in some cases the meat may be a little gamey.[/QUOTE] If you do not know what is killing them, you probably don't want to eat the meat.
[QUOTE=JohnFisher89;48621455]I would expect fracking or something wonder what it is[/QUOTE] Pfft
[QUOTE=cxcxxxxx;48621773]Yes but what happens if whatever killed these antelope is zoonotic? When you have an animal dying of an infectious illness that you cant place, the first step shouldnt be to eat them.[/QUOTE][QUOTE=uitham;48622136]yeah sure let's eat the meat of animals that suddenly died of mysterious and unknown reason nothing can go wrong there[/QUOTE][QUOTE=assassin_Raptor;48625060]If you do not know what is killing them, you probably don't want to eat the meat.[/QUOTE]They're ruminants and the likely thousands of tests done by now haven't indicated any infection and a big chunk of what easily kills ruminants aren't toxic to humans at all. (any sheep farmer knows copper is a big no-no) Given that this has happened several times before and [i]only[/i] with antelope and other ruminants leads me to believe that eating the meat is likely safe. Plus given that this particular round of mass die-offs (oh there have been many of them around the world and yep, they've all been ruminants) is happening in Kazakhstan I'm pretty sure some locals have taken advantage of the situation. Anyone dying from eating supposedly tainted meat from this would instantly make the news.
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