 Conservation advocates have
expressed concern for the future of Mongolia’s saiga deer.
The saiga worldwide population
numbered one million some twenty years ago. Today, however, experts
say only some 50,000 have survived due to over hunting and the elimination
of their traditional breeding and migration routes.
The siaga is an unusual looking
animal. Weighing under 50 pounds and standing less than two feet tall
at the shoulder, its most unusual feature is a very large nose. Scientists
believe the nose may be used to warm air during Mongolia’s winters
or filter air during dust storms.
Within recent decades, saigas
were predominantly found migrating in Mongolia as well as Uzbekistan,
Turkmenistan, Kalmykia, and Kazakhstan.
The radical decline in the
saiga population has been attributed to poaching for its horns which
are used in traditional Chinese medicine and an inability to compete
for survival with other livestock.
A study recently published
indicates a ‘migration bottleneck’ threatens the saiga population
in Mongolia. Saiga are reported to need to traverse a three mile wide
corridor to connect with other saiga populations. However, competition
for use of the corridor with livestock herds, and truck and motorcycle
traffic is preventing siaga migration.
“Like other species of the
steppes and deserts, saiga have avoided extinction by being able to
migrate long distances as their habitat changed over time,” Dr. Joel
Berger, a Wildlife Conservation Society conservationist recently told
The Open Conservation Biology Journal. “Given the uncertainty of how
global climate change might affect specific regions, and how and where
species might persist, prudent conservation strategies must take into
account the movements of highly mobile species like saiga.”
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