Saiga antelope

"Saiga" redirects here. For the shotgun named after the antelope, see Saiga-12. For the rifle, see Saiga semi-automatic rifle.
Saiga antelope
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Family: Bovidae
Subfamily: Antilopinae
Genus: Saiga
Species: S. tatarica
Binomial name
Saiga tatarica
(Linnaeus, 1766)
Reconstructed range (white) and current distribution of the two subspecies Saiga tatarica tatarica (green) and S. t. mongolica (red).

The saiga antelope (/ˈsaɪɡə/, Saiga tatarica) is a critically endangered antelope that originally inhabited a vast area of the Eurasian steppe zone from the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains and Caucasus into Dzungaria and Mongolia.

They also lived in Beringian North America during the Pleistocene. Today, the dominant subspecies (S. t. tatarica) is only found in one location in Russia (in The Republic of Kalmykia) and three areas in Kazakhstan (the Ural, Ustiurt and Betpak-Dala populations). A proportion of the Ustiurt population migrates south to Uzbekistan and occasionally Turkmenistan in winter. It is extinct in People's Republic of China and southwestern Mongolia. It was hunted extensively in Romania and Moldova until it became extinct in those regions in the end of the 18th century. The Mongolian subspecies (S. t. mongolica) is found only in western Mongolia.[2] Some sources consider the Mongolian subspecies to be a distinct species, the Mongolian saiga (Saiga borealis).[3]

Description

The saiga typically stands 0.6–0.8 m (2 ft 0 in–2 ft 7 in) at the shoulder and weighs between 36 and 63 kg (79 and 139 lb). The horned males are larger than the hornless females. Their lifespans range from 6 to 10 years. The saiga is recognizable by an extremely unusual, over-sized, flexible nose structure, the proboscis. During summer migrations the saigas' nose helps filter out dust kicked up by the herd and cools the animal's blood. In the winter it heats up the frigid air before it is taken to the lungs.

Saiga antelope skull and taxidermy mount on display at the Museum of Osteology.

Habitat and behavior

Male saiga

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 possession of females. The winner leads a herd of five to 50 females. In springtime, mothers come together in mass to give birth.[4] Two thirds of births will be twins, the remain third of births will be of a single foal.

Distribution

Remains of saiga killed by a pair of wolves at a waterhole. Chu river valley, Kazakhstan. 3 November 1955.

During the last glacial period, the saiga 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 (understandably but wrongly) believed to drink through its nose.[5] At the beginning of the 18th century, it was still distributed from the shores of the Black Sea, the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains, and the northern edge of the Caucasus into Dzungaria and Mongolia.

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.[6]

Today, the populations have again shrunk enormously — as much as 95% in 15 years.[7] The saiga is classified as critically endangered by the IUCN. An estimated total number of 50,000 saigas survive today in Kalmykia, three areas of Kazakhstan and in two isolated areas of Mongolia. Another small population in the Pre-Caspian region of Russia remains under extreme threat.[8]

Cherny Zemli Nature Reserve was created in Russia's Kalmykia Republic in the 1990s to protect the local saiga population. Kalmykia's president Kirsan Ilyumzhinov announced 2010 as the Year of Saiga in Kalmykia. In Kazakhstan, the number of saiga was found to be increasing, from around 21,000 at the beginning of this millennium to around 81,000 in January 2010. However, in May 2010, an estimated 12,000 of the 26,000 Saiga population in the Ural region of Kazakhstan have been 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.[9] In May 2015, what may be the same disease broke out in three northern regions of the country.[10] As of 28 May 2015, more than 120,000 saiga antelope have been confirmed dead in the Betpak-Dala population in central Kazakhstan, representing more than a third of the global population.[11]

Kazakhstan in November 2010 reaffirmed a ban on hunting saiga antelopes, and extended this ban until 2021, as the Central Asian nation seeks to save the endangered species.[12]

The Mongolian saiga (S. t. mongolica) is found in a small area in western Mongolia around the Sharga and Mankhan Nature Reserves.[13]

Currently, only the Moscow Zoo and Askania-Nova keep saigas.[14] Cologne Zoological Garden and San Diego Zoo had them in the past. Pleistocene Park in northern Siberia plans to introduce the species.

Conservation

Stuffed saiga herd at The Museum of Zoology, St. Petersburg

The horn of the saiga antelope is used in traditional Chinese medicine, and can sell for as much as $150.[15] Demand for the horns has wiped out the population in China, where the saiga antelope is a Class I protected species, and drives poaching and smuggling.

Under the auspices of the Convention on Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), also known as the Bonn Convention, the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) Concerning Conservation, Restoration and Sustainable Use of the Saiga Antelope was concluded and came into effect 24 September 2006.[16] The saiga's decline being one of the fastest population collapses of large mammals recently observed, the MoU aims to reduce current exploitation levels and restore the population status of these nomads of the Central Asian steppes.

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 (US$11 million).[17] At that price, each horn would cost over US$4,600.

In June 2015, E.J. Milner-Gulland (chair of Saiga Conservation Alliance) said, 'Anti-poaching needs to be a top priority for the Russian and Kazakh governments.'[4]

Mass mortalities 1980 to 2014

For ungulates mass mortalities are not uncommon. In the eighties, there were several saiga die offs. Between 2010 and 2014, there was a die off every year. It is thought that the deaths could be linked to calving aggregation.[4]

2015 epizootic

In May 2015, uncommonly large numbers of saiga began to die from a mysterious epizootic illness suspected to be pasteurellosis.[4][18] Herd fatality is 100% once infected, with an estimated 40% of the species' total population already dead.[19] More than 120,000 carcasses had been found as of late May, while the estimated total population was only 250,000.[20]

Biologist Murat Nurushev suggested that the cause might be acute ruminal tympany, whose symptoms (bloating, mouth foaming and diarrhea) had been observed in dead saiga antelopes.[21] According to Nurushev, this disease occurred as a result of foraging on a large amount of easily fermenting plants (alfalfa, clover, sainfoins and mixed wet green grass).[21] In May 2015, the United Nations agency which is involved in saiga conservation efforts issued a statement that the mass die-off had ended. As of June 2015, no definitive cause for the epizootic has been found.[22]

At a scientific meeting in November 2015 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Dr. Richard A. Kock, of the Royal Veterinary College in London, reported that he and his colleagues had narrowed down the possible culprits. Climate change and stormy spring weather, they said, may have transformed harmless bacteria, carried by the saigas, into lethal pathogens.[23]

References

  1. ↑ Mallon, D.P. (2008). "Saiga tatarica". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2012.2. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 19 December 2012.
  2. ↑ "Saiga/mongolian Saiga (Saiga tatarica)". Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered. Zoological Society of London. Retrieved 19 December 2012.
  3. ↑ Grubb, P. (2005). "Order Artiodactyla". In Wilson, D.E.; Reeder, D.M. Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 688. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Nicholls, Henry (12 June 2015). "134,000 saiga antelope dead in two weeks. What is the probable cause?". Guardian.
  5. ↑ Strabo (25 September 2012). "Book VII, Chapter 4, Paragraph 8". Geography. Retrieved 19 December 2012.
  6. ↑ Ellis, Richard (2004). No Turning Back: The Life and Death of Animal Species. New York: Harper Perennial. p. 210. ISBN 0-06-055804-0. Retrieved 19 December 2012.
  7. ↑ "Welcome to the Saiga Conservation Alliance". Saiga Conservation Alliance. Retrieved 19 December 2012.
  8. ↑ "Emergency appeal: saigas of the pre-Caspian region of Russia under extreme threat". Saiga Conservation Alliance. 18 March 2010. Retrieved 19 December 2012.
  9. ↑ "Mystery over mass antelope deaths in Kazakhstan". BBC News. 28 May 2010. Retrieved 19 December 2012.
  10. ↑ "Saiga Antelope Death Toll In Kazakhstan Reaches 85,000". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 22 May 2015. Retrieved 25 May 2015.
  11. ↑ "Catastrophic Collapse of Saiga Antelopes in Central Asia". United Nations Environment Programme. 28 May 2015. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
  12. ↑ "Kazakhstan extends Saiga antelope hunting ban until 2021". Silk Road Intelligencer. 19 January 2011. Archived from the original on 29 July 2011. Retrieved 19 December 2012.
  13. ↑ Mallon, David P.; Kingswood, Steven Charles (2001). Antelopes: Part 4 – North Africa, the Middle East, and Asia: Global Survey and Regional Action Plans. International Union for Conservation of Nature. p. 164. ISBN 2831705940. Retrieved 19 December 2012.
  14. ↑ "Western saiga (Russian saiga)". Zootierliste. Retrieved 19 December 2012.
  15. ↑ See Wild Russia
  16. ↑ "Memorandum of Understanding concerning Conservation, Restoration and Sustainable Use of the Saiga Antelope (Saiga spp)" (PDF). Convention on Migratory Species. 25 September 2011. Retrieved 19 December 2012.
  17. ↑ (Chinese) 新疆霍尔果斯海关破获一起羚羊角走私案 天山网 2014-06-23
  18. ↑ "Endangered saiga antelope mysteriously dying in vast numbers in Kazakhstan". The Independent. Associated Press. 25 May 2015.
  19. ↑ "Mass deaths hit Kazakhstan's endangered Ice Age antelope species". reuters.com. Reuters. May 27, 2015.
  20. ↑ Taylor, Adam (29 May 2015). "Kazakhstan's econological mystery". Washington Post. Worldviews.
  21. 1 2 "Свою версию гибели сайгаков выдвинул академик Нурушев" (in Russian). Informburo.kz. 24 May 2015. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  22. ↑ Saiga mystery disease; May 29, 2015
  23. ↑ http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/03/science/more-than-half-entire-species-of-saigas-gone-in-mysterious-die-off.html

Further reading

  • Singh, N.J., Milner-Gulland, E.J. (2011) (2011). "Conserving a moving target: planning protection for a migratory species as its distribution changes". Journal of Applied Ecology 48: 35–46. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2664.2010.01905.x. 
  • Singh, N.J., Grachev, Iu.A., Bekenov, A.B., Milner-Gulland, E.J. (2010) (2010). "Tracking greenery in Central Asia: The migration of the saiga antelope". Diversity and Distributions 16 (4): 663–675. doi:10.1111/j.1472-4642.2010.00671.x. 
  • Singh, N.J., Grachev, Iu.A., Bekenov, A.B., Milner-Gulland, E.J. (2010) (2010). "Saiga antelope calving site selection is increasingly driven by human disturbance". Biological Conservation 143 (7): 1770–1779. doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2010.04.026. 
  • Kuhl, A., Mysterud, A., Grachev, Iu.A., Bekenov, A.B., Ubushaev, B.S., Lushchekina, A.A., Milner-Gulland, E.J. (2009) (2009). "Monitoring population productivity in the saiga antelope". Animal Conservation 12 (4): 355–363. doi:10.1111/j.1469-1795.2009.00260.x. 
  • Kuhl, A., Balinova, N., Bykova, E., Esipov, A., Arylov, Iu.A., Lushchekina, A.A., Milner-Gulland, E.J. (2009) (2009). "The role of saiga poaching in rural communities: Linkages between attitudes, socio-economic circumstances and behaviour". Biological Conservation 142 (7): 1442–1449. doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2009.02.009. 
  • Kuhl, A., Mysterud, A., Erdnenov, G.I., Lushchekina, A.A., Grachev, Iu. A., Bekenov, A.B., Milner-Gulland, E.J. (2007) (2007). "The big spenders of the steppe: sex-specific maternal allocation and twinning in the saiga antelope". Proceedings of the Royal Society B 274 (1615): 1293–1299. doi:10.1098/rspb.2007.0038. PMC 2176182. PMID 17341456. .
  • Morgan, E.R., Medley, G.F., Torgerson, P.R., Shaikenov, B., and Milner-Gulland, E.J. (2007) (2007). "Parasite transmission in a migratory multiple host system". Ecological Modelling 200 (3–4): 511–520. doi:10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2006.09.002. 
  • Kholodova, M.V., Milner-Gulland, E.J., Easton, A.J., Amgalan, L., Arylov, Iu., Bekenov, A., Grachev, Iu.A., Lushchekina, A.A., Ryder, O. (2006) (2006). "Mitochondrial DNA variation and population structure of the Critically Endangered saiga antelope Saiga tatarica". Oryx 40: 103–107. doi:10.1017/S0030605306000135. 
  • Morgan, E.R., Lundervold, M., Medley, G.F., Shaikenov, B.S., Torgerson, P.R., Milner-Gulland, E.J. (2006) (2006). "Assessing risks of disease transmission between wildlife and livestock: the Saiga antelope as a case study". Biological Conservation 131 (2): 244–254. doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2006.04.012. 
  • Morgan, E.R., Shaikenov, B., Torgerson, P.R., Medley, G.F., Milner-Gulland, E.J. (2005) (2005). "Helminths of saiga antelopes in Kazakhstan: Implications for conservation and livestock production". Journal of Wildlife Diseases 41 (1): 149–162. doi:10.7589/0090-3558-41.1.149. PMID 15827221. 
  • Milner-Gulland, E.J., Bukreeva, O.M., Coulson, T.N., Lushchekina, A.A., Kholodova, M.V., Bekenov, A.B., Grachev, Iu.A. (2003) (2003). "Reproductive collapse in saiga antelope harems". Nature 422 (6928): 135. doi:10.1038/422135a. PMID 12634775. 
  • Robinson, S., Milner-Gulland, E.J. (2003) (2003). "Political change and factors limiting numbers of wild and domestic ungulates in Kazakhstan". Human Ecology 31: 87–110. doi:10.1023/A:1022834224257. 
  • Milner-Gulland, E.J., Kholodova, M.V., Bekenov, A.B., Bukreeva, O.M., Grachev, Iu.A., Amgalan, L., Lushchekina, A.A. (2001) (2001). "Dramatic declines in saiga antelope populations". Oryx 35 (4): 340–345. doi:10.1046/j.1365-3008.2001.00202.x. 

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