Majilis discusses connection between Proton launches and saiga deaths

    By Dinara Urazova,
    The mass-deaths of the saiga antelope in Kazakhstan has been raised at a plenary session of the Majilis deputies on May 27, Tengrinews reports. At that time, the number of dead saiga totaled 90,000.
    Now, the figure has reportedly rose to 120,000. Deputy Agriculture Minister Saparkhan Omarov said, "Now the number of dead saiga is nearing 100,000. The reason for this is pasteurellosis. According to our experts, other reasons could also be involved. Therefore, we have invited experts fr om other countries, including fr om Italy. They will be studying the problem and needed measures will be taken based on their findings."
    MP Aidan Smayil asked as to whether the Ministry of Agriculture had a special department dealing with the protection of animals. He noted that the plants in the area could be contaminated and the area needed to be quarantined.
    Omarov replied that such a department exists within the ministry while giving his assurances the ministry would create a dedicated workgroup to carefully track the status of both the plants and animals.
    Smayil added that he believed the cause of mass saiga deaths could be related to Proton rocket launches from the Baikonur Space Center.
    "We know very well the trajectory of the Proton (rockets - KNL) from Baikonur – they go over our lands in the Akmola Oblast, Altai and so on, wh ere the mass migration of saiga takes place in the spring. And this is a deadly trail for thousands of the animals," he said.
    One day before, while speaking at a meeting of the Senate Committee for International Relations, Defense and Security, Acting Chairman of the Aerospace Committee of the Ministry of Investment and Development Meirbek Moldabekov said he could not rule out the possibility of a connection between the massive die-off of saiga and the Proton launches. Nevertheless, he said that scientific research was needed.
    "There is a pestilence affecting the saiga antelopes. This of course, might be due to the environment, including contamination from Baikonur. But the deaths of the saiga, if we consider it in the regional context, it is happening far from Baikonur, which is located in the Kyzylorda Oblast. The pestilence of the saga (original - KNL) is happening in the Kostanai, Akmola and Aktobe oblasts. Therefore, we believe that there is probably no direct connection, but we will investigate," he said.
    In an interview with journalists, Moldabekov also said he saw no direct link between the launches of the rockets and the death of saiga.
    “The area of saiga pestilence is very wide (original KNL) — it spreads from the Akmola Oblast, to the Kostanai Oblast and the Aktobe Oblast. These are not the areas of the carrier rockets impact, so I would rule out a direct link. I'm inclined to think that heptyl has nothing to do with it, but it is necessary to conduct a survey to confirm this. As a scientist, I wouldn’t exclude the possibility, but rather examine it first," he said.
    Perhaps, a strange object found in the area of saiga pestilence several days could shed some light on what’s happening. Kostanai Oblast Prosecutor’s Office confirmed that a strange spherical object was discovered in the steppe wh ere the dead bodies of saiga were scattered.
    Askar Syzdykov, head of the 1^st Department of the Prosecutor's Office of Kostanai Oblast, said that the spherical object was 60cm in diameter. It is believed to be a fragment of a spacecraft, besides the area of saiga deaths is close to the impact zone of rocket stages (original - KNL), he said.
    An initial examination showed the object posed no threat to humans or animals. However, according to the prosecutor's office, it has been sent for further investigation to the competent authorities.
    Two similar spherical objects were found in West Kazakhstan Oblast in 2009. Local villagers said that sparks of various colors had rained down from the objects during their fall. When the objects cooled, the village residents approached them.
    Two also were about 60cm in diameter and had a small opening on one side. The material from which the objects were made was very hard, and they had a silver color, according to Tengrinews.