Endangered

Saiga antelopes mysteriously dying by the tens of thousands.

This is a bad month to be a saiga antelope. One-third of the critically endangered animals in Kazakhstan have mysteriously died in just over a week, according to authorities. The National Post’s Davide Mastracci offers five things to know about the embattled species.

1 Their territory is shrinking

The saiga antelope originally inhabited a wide spread of the Eurasian steppe, stretching from the Caucasus into Mongolia. Saigas are now solely found in northwest Russia, and three regions of Kazakhstan.

2 Their numbers are shrinking

The saiga population, once over two million, fell dramatically after the collapse of the Soviet Union due to uncontrolled hunting. In 2002, the saiga was classified as a critically endangered species by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.

3 Big nose , spiral horn

The saiga, which has a life expectancy of six to 10 years, has a large bulbous nose that hangs over its mouth, bulging eyes and a distinctive spiralled horn that has attracted poachers to the creature. The saiga can weigh up to 50 kilograms, with a height reaching nearly a metre.

4

black market

The saiga’s horns are often sold on the black market for high prices. In 2013, customs agents at the border of China’s Xinjiang autonomous region and Kyrgyzstan seized over 4,400 horns. The collection was estimated to be valued at over $22 million.

5

Infection or rockets ?

The lack of signs of trauma among the recently dead saiga corpses has led officials to believe poaching isn’t the reason for the mass deaths. Instead, some officials have claimed they were caused by pasteurellosis, a form of bacterial infection. Others have suggested the mass deaths may have been caused by a rocket crash. A Proton-M rocket, launched in Kazakhstan by Russia, crashed on May 16.