Saiga antelope
The saiga antelope or saiga is a species of antelope which during antiquity inhabited a vast area of the Eurasian steppe, spanning the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains in the northwest and Caucasus in the southwest into Mongolia in the northeast and Dzungaria in the southeast. During the Pleistocene, it ranged across the mammoth steppe from the British Isles to Beringia. Today, the dominant subspecies only occurs in Kalmykia and Astrakhan Oblast of Russia and in the Ural Mountains, Ustyurt Plateau and Betpak-Dala regions of Kazakhstan. A portion of the Ustyurt population migrates south to Uzbekistan and occasionally to Turkmenistan in winter. It is regionally extinct in Romania, Ukraine, Moldova, China and southwestern Mongolia. The Mongolian subspecies occurs only in western Mongolia.
Taxonomy and phylogeny
The scientific name Capra tatarica was coined by Carl Linnaeus in 1766 in the 12th edition of Systema Naturae. It was reclassified as Saiga tatarica and is the sole living member of the genus Saiga. Two subspecies are recognised:- S. t. tatarica : also known as the Russian saiga, it is only to be found today in central Asia.
- S. t. mongolica Bannikov, 1946: also known as the Mongolian saiga, it is sometimes treated as an independent species, or as subspecies of the Pleistocene Saiga borealis; it is confined to Mongolia.
In a revision of the phylogeny of the tribe Antilopini on the basis of nuclear and mitochondrial data in 2013, Eva Verena Bärmann and colleagues showed that the saiga is sister to the clade formed by the springbok and the gerenuk. The study noted that the saiga and the springbok could be considerably different from the rest of the antilopines; a 2007 phylogenetic study suggested that the two form a clade sister to the gerenuk. The cladogram below is based on the 2013 study.
Evolution
Fossils of saiga, concentrated mainly in central and northern Eurasia, date to as early as the late Pleistocene. Several species of extinct Saiga from the Pleistocene of Eurasia and Alaska have been named, including S. borealis, S. prisca, S. binagadensis and S. ricei, although more recent studies suggest that these prehistoric representatives were merely geographical variants of the extant species that was formerly much more widespread. Fossils excavated from the Buran Kaya III site date back to the transition from Pleistocene to Holocene. The morphology of saiga does not seem to have changed significantly since prehistoric times.Before the Holocene, the saiga ranged across the mammoth steppe from as far west as modern-day England and France to as far east as northern Siberia, Alaska, and probably Canada. The antelope gradually entered the Urals, though it did not colonise southern Europe. A 2010 study revealed that a steep decline has occurred in the genetic variability of the saiga since the late Pleistocene-Holocene, probably due to a population bottleneck.
Characteristics
A prominent feature of the saiga is the pair of closely spaced, bloated nostrils directed downward. Other facial features include the proboscis, dark markings on the cheeks and the long ears. Its head-and-body length is typically between with a short tail, and it stands at the shoulder. It weighs.The coat shows seasonal changes. In summer, the coat appears yellow to red, fading toward the flanks. The Mongolian saiga can develop a sandy colour. The coat develops a pale, grayish-brown colour in winter, with a hint of brown on the belly and the neck. The ventral parts are generally white. The hair is long in summer and can grow up to in winter. This forms a long mane on the neck. Two distinct moults occur, one in spring from April to May and another in autumn from late September or early October to late November or early December.
Only males have horns that are thick and slightly translucent, wax-coloured and show 12 to 20 pronounced rings. With a base diameter of, the horns of the Russian saiga measure in length; the horns of the Mongolian saiga reach a maximum length of.
Ecology and behaviour
Saigas form very large herds that graze in semideserts, steppes, grasslands, and possibly open woodlands, eating several species of plants, including some that are poisonous to other animals. They can cover long distances and swim across rivers, but they avoid steep or rugged areas. The mating season starts in November, when stags fight for the acceptance of females. The winner leads a herd of five to ten, occasionally up to 50 females. In springtime, mothers come together in mass to give birth.Saigas, like the Mongolian gazelles, are known for their extensive migrations across the steppes that allow them to escape natural calamities.
Saigas are highly vulnerable to wolves. Juveniles are targeted by foxes, steppe eagles, golden eagles and ravens.
Distribution and habitat
In the mid-2010s, the populations declined enormously – as much as 95% in 15 years. This led the saiga to be classified as critically endangered on the IUCN Red List. In more recent years, the saiga has experienced massive regrowth. As of 2022, there is an estimated number of 1.38 million saiga surviving in Kazakhstan, per an April aerial count. As of December 2023, the global saiga antelope population is estimated to number 922,600–988,500 mature individuals.In May 2010, an estimated 12,000 of the 26,000 saiga population in the Ural region of Kazakhstan were found dead. Although the deaths are currently being ascribed to pasteurellosis, an infectious disease that strikes the lungs and intestines, the underlying trigger remains to be identified. In May 2015, what may be the same disease broke out in three northern regions of the country. As of 28 May 2015, more than 120,000 saigas had been confirmed dead in the Betpak-Dala population in central Kazakhstan, representing more than a third of the global population. By April 2016, the saigas appeared to be making a comeback, with an increase of population from 31,000 to 36,000 in the Betpak-Dala area. In April 2021 a survey in Kazakhstan found that the saiga population had risen from an estimated 334,000 to 842,000. The population increase was partially attributed to the government crackdown on poaching and the establishment of conservation areas. UK charity RSPB reported in 2022 that, partly due to their conservation efforts, as well as the designation of the Bokey Orda-Ashiozek protected area by the Kazakhstan government, the population had now risen to a peak of 1.32 million.
Former range
The saiga was not present in Europe during the Eemian. During the last glacial period, it ranged from the British Isles through Central Asia and the Bering Strait into Alaska and Canada's Yukon and Northwest Territories. By the classical age, they were apparently considered a characteristic animal of Scythia, judging from the historian Strabo's description of an animal called the kolos that was "between the deer and ram in size" and was wrongly believed to drink through its nose.Considerable evidence shows the importance of the antelope to Andronovo culture settlements. Illustrations of saiga antelopes can be found among the cave paintings that were dated back to seventh to fifth century BC. Moreover, saiga bones were found among the remains of other wild animals near the human settlements.
The fragmented information shows an abundance of saigas on the territory of modern Kazakhstan in the 14th-16th centuries. The migratory routes ranged throughout the country's area, especially the region between the Volga and Ural Rivers was heavily populated. The population's size remained high until the second half of the 19th century, when excessive horn export began. The high price and demand for horns drove radical hunting. The number of animals decreased in all regions and the migratory routes shifted southward. Populations in Ukraine were driven to extirpation in the 18th century.
After a rapid decline, they were nearly completely exterminated in the 1920s, but they were able to recover. By 1950, two million of them were found in the steppes of the USSR. Their population fell drastically following the collapse of the USSR due to uncontrolled hunting and demand for horns in Chinese medicine. At one point, some conservation groups, such as the World Wildlife Fund, encouraged the hunting of this species, as its horn was presented as an alternative to that of a rhinoceros.
Mongolian saiga
The Mongolian saiga is found in a small area in western Mongolia around the Sharga and Mankhan Nature Reserves.Threats
The horn of the saiga antelope is used in traditional Chinese medicine and can sell for as much as US$150. Demand for the horns drives poaching and smuggling, which has wiped out the population in China, where the saiga antelope is a class I protected species.In June 2014, Chinese customs at the Kazakh border uncovered 66 cases containing 2,351 saiga antelope horns, estimated to be worth over Y70.5 million.
In June 2015, E. J. Milner-Gulland said: "Antipoaching needs to be a top priority for the Russian and Kazakh governments."
Hunting
Saigas have been a target of hunting since prehistoric ages, when hunting was an essential means to acquire food. Saigas' horns, meat, and skin have commercial value and are exported from Kazakhstan.Saiga horn, known as, is one of the main ingredients in traditional Chinese medicine that is used as an extract or powder additive to the elixirs, ointments, and drinks. Saiga horn's value is equal to rhinoceros horn, whose trade was banned in 1993. is thought to be a cheaper substitute of rare rhino horn in most TCM recipes.
In the period from 1955 to 1989, over 87 thousand tonnes of meat were collected in Kazakhstan by killing more than five million saiga.
In 2011, Kazakhstan reaffirmed a ban on hunting saiga and extended this ban until 2021. Hunting of the species was allowed in Kazakhstan in 2025 due to concerns over damage to crops and rapid population growth.
Saiga meat is compared to lamb, considered to be nutritious and delicious. Numerous recipes for cooking the antelope's meat can be found. Both meat and byproducts are sold in the country and outside of it. About 45–80 dm2 of skin can be harvested from one individual depending on its age and sex.