Mongolia Field Report, 1999

In late June and early July, Drs. Karesh and Deem traveled to the eastern Province of Dornod in Mongolia to conduct a health survey on this year’s “crop” of Mongolian gazelle calves. The steppes were a much different place during this visit than last November when Dr. Karesh traveled to the same region. During the snowy winter of 1998, Dr. Karesh saw thousands of adult gazelle carcasses attributed to an epidemic of Fusobacterium, which causes a condition known as “foot rot” often seen in domestic livestock. But during the trip this summer, the hills and plains of the eastern steppes were turning green with season’s new crop of grass. Healthy-appearing neonatal gazelle calves were found hiding throughout the short grasses. Drs. Karesh and Deem, working with George Schaller, Director of Science for WCS, Kirk Olson, an American graduate student, Mongolian wildlife and veterinary authorities, and UN Development Program personnel, successfully performed physical examinations and collected blood samples from 56 newborn gazelles. The team worked well together, despite a serious brush fire that compelled the group to make a fast escape from the campsite, and other difficulties including fuel and water shortages.

Although Mongolian gazelles are the most numerous of any large mammal in Asia, the future of these animals is uncertain. One threat to the species is habitat loss, which may result in changes in their historic migratory patterns. Poaching may also be on the rise. The gazelle herds in Mongolia represent the last significant populations of these animals in Asia. Now that gazelle populations in China and Russia have been overhunted, there may be additional hunting pressure on the Mongolian populations.

Blood samples collected from the calves will be analyzed to provide the first-ever health evaluation of a wild population of this dramatic landscape species. By looking at the antibodies that are passively transferred from the dams to the calves, we will be able to determine the infectious agents to which the mother gazelles have been exposed. This information is vital for determining the health status of the young gazelles and identifying diseases that are a potential threat to the population. In addition to the sample collection for health studies, all calves were weighed, sexed, and marked with an ear tag. Radio-collars were placed on five of the calves, and plans were made to collar 20 additional calves in the future. All these procedures were performed as part of a long-term study in which WCS researchers will evaluate the behavior and migration patterns of the gazelles.

Five months from now, Dr. Deem along with Dr. Tracey McNamara, head of WCS’s Department of Pathology, will return to Dornod to perform necropsies on approximately 50 hunted gazelles during the annual harvest that is directed by the Mongolian government. The physical examinations and evaluation of blood samples collected from neonatal calves this summer, in conjunction with the planned pathology study of adult gazelles during this fall’s harvest, will provide data for a thorough health assessment of this little-studied species. Information gathered through collaborative field efforts such as this one with our Mongolian partners will help us to conserve these impressive herds for future generations.

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