In May 2015, a BBC camera crew followed a huge group of female Saiga antelopes which gathered to give birth in the steppes of central Kazakhstan. In a matter of 15 days, the crew witnessed the most tragic event.
The group of Saigas had made a short stay for birthing their calves. During this time, the female Saigas are often vulnerable to diseases or birth-related mortality. While the calves are born large and strong to outrun predators in a matter of days, many of them could die from exposure to disease and changing weather conditions.
During this event, something hapless and eerie occurred. One by one, the females began getting weaker and succumbed to something unknown. Soon, their newborns followed. Carcasses of female Saigas and their calves spread across the vast plains. More than 200,000 saigas died in just a few days.
The tragedy left everyone confused. Was it some kind of infection? But infections don’t usually wipe out an entire population so fast. Could it be toxic land? But how could the toxin be prevalent in such huge spans of land – 168,000 square kilometres? It must be an extraterrestrial phenomenon! As crazy as it sounds, social media mentioned it a few times concerning this event.
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