International experts are investigating the sudden deaths of more than 100,000 endangered saiga antelope in Kazakhstan, raising fears that a species that has been around since the Ice Age may be at risk of dying out.
Around 40 per cent of the Central Asian nation's population of the endangered saiga antelope have died in the past two weeks. Animal health experts suspect a respiratory disease may be to blame.
Kazakhstan, the world's ninth-largest country by area, is home to around 90 per cent of the world's population of the saiga, recognisable by their lyre-shaped horns and bulbous noses.
"The death of the saiga antelope is a huge tragedy," zoologist Bibigul Sarsenova said. "Should this happen again next year, they may simply disappear."
The International Union for Conservation of Nature, a global coalition of governments and environmental organisations, says the saiga antelope is a "critically endangered" species.
An estimated 300,000 saiga roamed across the Kazakh steppes on May 11, when the first dead antelope was discovered. By May 27, nearly 121,000 carcasses had been found in three huge areas of their usual habitat.