An antelope distinguished by a large nose that hangs over the mouth.
The large nose is flexible. Males have pale horns, and the short summer coat becomes longer and thicker in winter.
Saiga migration can follow the seasonal pulse of steppe vegetation. Singh and colleagues compared four populations in Kazakhstan and Russia’s pre-Caspian region using 40 years of direct observations. Their analysis linked migration in all four populations with vegetation productivity and precipitation. Three populations showed similar north–south movements that followed seasonal changes in plant growth.
Within their seasonal ranges, saiga tended to use areas with intermediate productivity and relatively low year-to-year variability. This suggests that predictable forage may matter alongside peak vegetation growth. The authors reported that migrations in Kazakhstan remained intact at the time, while the status of migration in the pre-Caspian region was unknown. The findings describe how seasonal rainfall and plant growth related to movement across the four populations studied.
IUCN Red List · Near Threatened (NT) · Global (Saiga tatarica)
Poaching and blocked migration routes are threats. Cross-border work on the Ustyurt Plateau includes community patrols, movement tracking and reducing barriers.
The 2023 IUCN global assessment lists the saiga as Near Threatened (NT). It reflects the recent population recovery while noting extreme uncertainty in the data: Endangered (EN), Vulnerable (VU), or Least Concern (LC) were also considered plausible assessments.