Saiga Antelope

Saigas are weird looking antelopes, equipped with a large, proboscis-like nose that is key to their survival in the seasonal extremes of their range. Large air sacs in the nose extract valuable moisture from exhaled air and also warm up the cold air as it is breathed in.

One of the fastest declining mammal species in the world is the saiga antelope. This migratory species of the steppe grasslands of Asia has declined by a massive 95% since 1995, mainly due to uncontrolled poaching following the break-up of the Soviet Union. And they still face severe problems. In May 2010, 12,000 individuals - mainly females and young calves - were found dead in western Kazakhstan, a significant proportion of the remaining population. Harsh winters, continued poaching and the destruction of their key habitats and traditional migration routes means the future looks bleak for these cold weather specialists.

During the Ice Age the saiga ranged from the British Isles through Central Asia and the Bering Strait into Alaska and the Yukon. At the beginning of the 18th century it was still distributed from the shores of the Black Sea, the Carpathian foothills and the northern edge of the Caucasus into Dzungaria and Mongolia. 

The following habitats are found across the Saiga distribution range. Find out more about these environments, what it takes to live there and what else inhabits them.