Kazakhstan to spend over $1 million to study saiga antelope die-off

350 million KZT (about $ 1.25 million) will be allocated next year to study the causes of the saiga antelope die-off in Kazakhstan, Deputy Minister of Agriculture of Kazakhstan Yerlan Nysanbaev said.

"In 2012, 2013, 2014, over 300 million tenge were spent on the study of mass die-off of saiga in Uralsk in 2010. According to the results of those studies, it was found that pasteurellosis disease has killed the endanged animals, however what caused the disease has not been determined yet," he said speaking on the sidelines of the meeting of the working group to identify the causes of saiga deaths.

"We hope that the Ministry of Education and Science will allocate the money on research. The next year, about 350 million tenge will be needed for the researches," he added.

He did not deny that the saiga die-off would continue the next year.

In 2015 mass saiga die-off that happened in mid-May in Kostanai, Aktobe and Akmola regions, about 130,000 saiga died.

It's more than a third of the population of saiga inhabiting in Kazakhstan.

Source: akipress.com