​Death of pelicans: still a mystery

By Tamara Sukhomlinova

The working group engaged in investigation of mass death of Dalmatian pelicans in the delta of the Kigach river in Kurmangazy District still cannot establish the cause of death of birds, informed the chief of Atyrau inspectorate of forestry and fauna Murat Ermekkaliev at "Bekire-2015" headquarters' coordination meeting. To recall, about 70 carcasses of dead birds have been revealed by the specialists of NCOC company on April 11 during helicopter flight.

For investigation of causes of birds' death the commission was crfated out of specialists of ecological and veterinary services. Two carcasses have been delivered for research to the regional veterinary laboratory. Also samples of water and air have been taken. - Examinations and tests of water and air didn't show any anomalies. Veterinarians couldn't establish the reason of death since the carcasses started to decay, - said M. Ermekkaliev. - We invited experts from institutes of virology and microbiology from Almaty and Astana. The ornithologist from wildlife reserve "Ak Zhaik" will be helping them. We hope that they would be able to establish the cause of death of the birds.