Endangered Antelope Has Newfound Hope to Survive

The population of an endangered antelope dwelling in the steppe of Kazakhstan has more than doubled in four years, meaning that the imperiled animal now has good long-term chances of survival.

“Not only are the numbers of Saiga increasing, but the number of males relative to the number of females is also growing,” says Albert Salemgareev, an expert with the Kazakhstan-based Altyn Dala Conservation Initiative. Indeed, the boom is, according to Kazakhstan’s ecology ministry, “an indicator of the effectiveness of measures to conserve saiga populations and counteract poaching”.

The Saiga antelope fell ill due to a nasal bacterium, killing some 200,000 individuals – half the global population – in 2015. The last aerial survey occurred in 2019, and it was estimated that the population went from 334,000 to 842,000. Since the Saiga is among five critically endangered antelope species and poaching is an ongoing threat to the animal, Kazakhstan’s authorities are serious about intensifying their crackdown on the illegal and cruel activity. So far, the laws they enforced are fruitful.