About Saiga antelopes
The Saiga antelope (Saiga tatarica) is a migratory ungulate of the steppes and deserts of Central Asia and Russia. Saigas are relatively small antelopes that can be distinguished by the large, proboscis-like nose, buff-coloured coat (white in winter) and by the unusual ‘up and down’ style of running. They live in large herds of up to a thousand individuals. There are two subspecies: Saiga tatarica tatarica (the nominate subspecies, to which the majority of the global population belong) and Saiga tatarica mongolica (endemic to western Mongolia).
Historically, the saiga was a common species in Eurasian steppes and deserts. However, the fall of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s caused widespread unemployment and poverty which resulted in increased saiga hunting. Saigas were hunted already before the 1990s but as they have a high reproductive potential with females reaching sexual maturity at less than a year and often giving birth to twins, the populations could tolerate this. However, the increased hunting has been a major threat for the survival of the species and since the early 1990s, over 95% of the saiga population has disappeared. Particularly the males attract poachers due to their precious horns, which are used in traditional Chinese medicine. Selective hunting of males results in skewed sex ratio which severely affects reproduction. Another important threat is anthropogenic destruction of key habitats and traditional migration routes. In 2002, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) classified saiga as critically endangered.
The focus of the next Lab Note will be mass mortality events, which present yet another threat to the survival of these fascinating animals.
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