Context: The Saiga, the odd-faced antelope that have roamed the earth since the last Ice Age, can hope to continue gamboling across the vast Eurasian Steppe. That is because on December 11, 2023, the species’ (Saiga tatarica) category was changed from Critically Endangered to Near Threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

About Saiga antelope

• The Saiga has two sub-species: Saiga tatarica tatarica (found in most of the range) and Saiga tatarica mongolica (found only in Mongolia). 

• The antelope were once found throughout the Eurasian Steppe, the great band of grassland that stretches from Hungary in Europe to Manchuria in Asia.

• The Saiga is known for its distinctive bulbous nose.

• Today, the animal is found in fragmented populations within Kazakhstan, Mongolia, the Russian Federation and Uzbekistan, according to the Saiga Conservation Alliance (SCA), a network of researchers and conservationists working to protect the Saiga.

• There were an estimated one million saigas in Russia and Central Asia in the early 1990s, but by 2003 their numbers had plummeted, with only six per cent of the population remaining,”

• Kazakhstan is home to a majority of the world's Saiga.

Conservation Efforts

• The IUCN update credited “effective national and international conservation efforts” for turning the tide in favour of the Saiga.

• “This substantial positive change in global Red List status — a rarity in conservation — reflects the remarkable recovery of Saiga populations in Kazakhstan, which have recovered from a perilously low estimate of just 48,000 in 2005 to now over 1.9 million,”.

• The Government of Kazakhstan has demonstrated highly commendable leadership in species recovery, investing heavily in a suite of impactful actions including anti-poaching initiatives, robust law enforcement and border control measures, and establishment of a series of major new State Protected Areas.

• But, current population numbers for Saiga in Russia are 38,000, up from 4,500 in 2016, while Uzbekistan hosts an estimated 500 Saiga, c.200 of which were first discovered in the Aral Sea Region in 2021 whilst the remaining 300 are isolated by human-made barriers to migration.

• The Mongolian subspecies numbers 15,540 individuals, according to a November 2023 census. There have been no instances of poaching since 2018, when the population level was 3,391.

Threats to Saiga

• The threat of poaching is fuelled by the demand for the Saiga's horn in traditional Chinese medicine.

• Climate change and the expansion of human activity through farming and infrastructure projects are other threats to the Saiga.

Road Ahead

• The species will only be fully recovered if it regains its role in the ecosystem across its entire range, with ongoing poaching, illegal trade, disease, climate change, disturbance and infrastructure development all posing a threat to Saiga.