Endangered pelicans die en masse in Daghestan

In recent weeks, residents of various cities in Daghestan have reported finding dead Dalmatian pelicans (Pelecanus crispus), a rare species listed in the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List. While the authorities claim a possible reason behind the mass deaths is exhaustion due to the cold weather, biologists have not ruled out environmental pollution.

Specialists from Daghestan’s Ministry of Natural Resources, together with representatives of the local Committee for Veterinary Medicine, reported on 17 March that they had taken samples of biological material, including blood and organ samples, from the dead birds for comprehensive analysis. The samples were reportedly sent to specialised laboratories for toxicological and microbiological studies.

However, while waiting for the outcome of these studies, the ministry announced the same day that one possible reason for the mass death was exhaustion.

According to the ministry, from the end of February to the beginning of March, there was a sharp cold snap in Daghestan, as a result of which many bodies of water were covered with ice. This allegedly deprived the pelicans of the opportunity to get food, which could have led to their exhaustion and subsequent death.

In contrast, Aminat Abdurakhmanova, chair of the board of Bird Phoenix, a public organisation in Daghestan working to protect cultural and natural heritage monuments, told Caucasian Knot that she did not rule out environmental problems as the main reason for the birds’ deaths.

‘Shallow lakes near the coast of Kaspiysk, which are filled with construction rubbish and where sewage from construction projects is discharged, could also be the cause of bird deaths. The Ministry of Natural Resources of the republic is carrying out formal work in this direction’, Abdurakhmanova said.

She additionally noted that Russia’s attitude to red-listed animals was not at an acceptable level.

‘Earlier, our organisation, only after an appeal to the Volga Nature Protection Prosecutor’s Office, succeeded in protecting red-listed eagles from being used for commercial purposes to entertain tourists,’ Abdurakhmanova said.

She did not respond to OC Media’s questions.

Daghestani biologist Magomed Aliev also told Caucasian Knot that in late March, the freezing of water bodies in Daghestan was irrelevant.

‘[In February,] it was difficult for pelicans to get fish for food. People came to the Makhachkala beach and fed the birds. Now everything has melted, there are no problems for fish extraction in the sea’, Aliev said.

‘As for the shallow lakes near Kaspiysk, I don’t think they were used by birds to find food,’ he concluded.

Previously, in March 2021, there was a mass pelican die-off in the Kizlyar district of Daghestan. The Director of the Institute of Ecology and Sustainable Development of Daghestan State University, Alimurad Gadzhiev, said at the time that most of the dead pelicans were found directly under power lines, indicating that they had collided with wires in unfavourable weather conditions.

The Dalmatian pelican is a large bird with a wingspan of up to 2.5 metres and a body weight of up to 13 kg. During their migration period, the birds are typical inhabitants of Daghestan’s wetlands of Daghestan, most notably in Kizlyar Bay and in the Agrakhansky wildlife preserve.

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