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A Male Saiga Antelope in Russia's Black Land National Park. These highly social antelope live in herds. Photograph By Valeriy Malee/Nature Picture Library

This Floppy-Nosed Antelope Was Nearly Gone. 20 Years Later, It’s Thriving.

Less than a decade ago, more than half of the world’s saiga antelope were lost to a mysterious disease. Its comeback is a rare and phenomenal conservation success.

— By Jason Bittel | December 14, 2023

Just two decades ago, it seemed as if we might need to write a eulogy for the saiga antelope.

Cut down by widespread poaching and waves of disease, by 2003, just 6 percent of the floppy-nosed ungulates remained in Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Russia, and Uzbekistan.

But today, scientists are rejoicing at the saiga’s unlikely rebound.

There are now 1.9 million saiga antelope across Eurasia, according to the most recent estimates released this week. So many saiga, in fact, that the International Union for Conservation of Nature is upgrading the Red List status for the species from critically endangered to near threatened.

“There's a lot of conservation doom and gloom, and there isn't very much attention paid to conservation successes,” says E.J. Milner-Gulland, a conservation scientist at the University of Oxford and co-founder of the U.K-based Saiga Conservation Alliance. “It’s quite a vindication of 20 years of hard work by lots of people.”

To get a sense of just how far this species has come, in 2015, more than half of the worldwide population of saiga antelope were lost to a mysterious blood disease.

“This is phenomenal news,” says Joel Berger, an ecologist at Colorado State University and a senior scientist at the Wildlife Conservation Society, in an email.

“At a time when so many species and populations are in deep swan dives, to witness the recovery of saiga—a species deserving of more recognition in its own right—is something we all need to celebrate,” he says.

The Saiga’s Downward Spiral

Those who have been paying attention to the saiga’s saga know that it’s been a wild ride.

“Twenty years ago, it had the fastest increase in threat status of any mammal,” says Milner-Gulland. “The population had plummeted by more than 90 percent over a really short time of a few years, so it went straight in at critically endangered.”

As for what happened, Milner-Gulland explains that the saiga’s downfall can be attributed to several factors. For starters, saiga horn has great value in China, Singapore, Vietnam, and Malaysia as a component in traditional medicine. And this demand, coupled with the breakup of the Soviet Union, led to a dramatic rise in hunting.

It’s a Symbol of the Wild Steppe, of Independence and Freedom.

— E.J. Milner-Gulland, Conservation Scientist at the University of Oxford

“The economies of these countries basically collapsed,” she says. “And they were living in very harsh conditions on the steppe. So they turned to poaching.”

Fencing along the border between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan also put a barrier in the middle of the saiga’s migratory route, while infrastructure development cut into saiga habitat. Finally, an unknown trigger turned a naturally occurring microbe in the saiga’s characteristic nose into a virulent pathogen, leading to the mass die-offs.

It’s for all these reasons that the IUCN has chosen not to de-list the saiga completely.

“The near threatened category is right for the saiga, because we know that at any time, we could just get large numbers of them dropping dead again,” says Milner-Gulland. “They are very vulnerable.”

Male Saiga Antelope Battle in Black Lands National Park. Males and their horns are a specific target of poachers. Photograph By Valeriy Malee/Nature Picture Library

A Path to Recovery

Just as the threats to the saiga were multi-faceted, so too have been the efforts to protect the species, which are important seed dispersers and grazers that contribute to plant biodiversity.

For instance, an international collaboration between countries where saigas roam, countries that traditionally consume saiga products, and other stakeholder nations, including the United States, led to a memorandum of understanding in 2006 to conserve the species, restore its habitat, and restrict harvest to a sustainable level.

For its part, Kazakhstan’s government focused on stronger anti-poaching measures, including law enforcement to prevent saiga hunting. The Saiga Conservation Alliance supplied financing for gasoline, uniforms, motorbikes, and shelters for those rangers, who live in the harsh, windswept grasslands. Customs agents also improved detection of saiga products leaving the country as part of the illicit wildlife trade. Lastly, the country designated multiple protected areas totaling more than 12 million acres of saiga antelope habitat.

Now that economic conditions have leveled out and local people don’t have to choose between their own survival and saving saiga, there has also been a dramatic shift in support for the species.

“The thing about saiga is the local people really love it,” says Milner-Gulland. “It’s a symbol of the wild steppe, of independence and freedom.”

Saiga (Drinking on Southern Russia's Astrakhan Steppe) can migrate up to 600 miles over summer and winter. Photograph By Valeriy Malee/Nature Picture Library

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