Mongolian saigas are dead during the snow storm

GSTDTAP > 资源环境科学

	Mongolian saigas are dead during the snow storm
	admin
	2018-01-22
发布年	2018
语种	英语
国家	国际
领域	资源环境
正文(英文)	A scientific study is one of the fundamental approaches for good systematic conservation planning. In this line, the WWF-Mongolia has started a Mongolian saiga study using satellite collars to identify its migration pattern and recent disease control. WWF-Mongolia in cooperation with the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), the Prague zoo, and Saiga ranger network collared 20 individuals in May and September 2017. Unfortunately seven of them dead mostly due to severe weather condition. Two of them fell into prey for predators in November, four of them dead during snow storm and the cause of one individual is unknown. There were snow storms took place between 4 Jan and 8 Jan 2018 in Western Mongolia. Snow storm was strongest in northern part of the Saiga range, in particular, Durgunii Khuren, Khuisiin Gobi reaching -40 Celsius degree with a wind speed of 16-23 m/sec, which increased the chill effect and further decreased the temperature. Last days of the the storm, four of the collared saiga were dead. Those of four individuals moved substantially longer distance during 4 days of storm than they used to before the storm by 3.8 to 6.3 times long distances daily. Due to bad summer with short and less vegetation to graze, already short vegetation, in particular, Anabasis (Bagluur), the main food source of the saiga for the winter, is fully covered by snow leaving saiga in extreme food shortage in most part of the saiga range, particularly in northern part. Unlike steppe and mountain steppe mammals, gobi mammals, like saiga are not adopted well to dig out the snow and forage on vegetation under snow, since snow does not fell in large amount and cover Gobi landscape regularly. Thus, saiga is forced to move in long distance in search of food during snow storm. There was no sign of predation and disease on dead saiga suggesting that those of four saiga likely have dead due to hypothermia and exhaustion caused by long distance movement (for example one of the dead individual travelled 138 km during 4 days of snow storm), lack of food source and extreme temperature, all of which resulted in death. It indicates that the situation is critical for the Mongolian saiga. Upcoming few months until spring will be extremely hard for the not only Mongolian saiga but also other wildlife, thus, it is necessary to help them survive this winter.
URL	查看原文
来源平台	World Wide Fund for Nature
文献类型	新闻
条目标识符	http://119.78.100.173/C666/handle/2XK7JSWQ/126122
专题	资源环境科学
推荐引用方式 GB/T 7714	admin. Mongolian saigas are dead during the snow storm. 2018.