SAIGA ANTELOPE IN PERIL!

The saiga antelope (Saiga tatarica tatarica) is in grave peril. A keystone species of the fragile steppe ecosystems of the Russian Federation and Central Asia, saiga numbers have plummeted from about 1 million in 1990 to less than 5% of that figure today. The predominant cause of this catastrophic decline is poaching, both for horn and meat. The roots of poaching lie in poverty, resulting from major changes in the rural economies of the main range states, Kazakhstan, the Republic of Kalmykia of the Russian Federation, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. Unless current conservation measures are dramatically strengthened poaching will continue and rapidly lead to extinction or near-extinction of the main remaining populations, especially that of Betpak-Dala in Kazakhstan.

These are the principal conclusions of a Workshop of the world's leading saiga experts and others concerned with the plight of the saiga held at Almaty, Kazakhstan from 1 to 3 April 2004, under the aegis of a project supported by the UK Darwin Initiative. The meeting was attended by officials, scientists and experts from Kazakhstan, the Russian Federation, Uzbekistan, the United Kingdom, Germany and Norway, along with representatives from UNEP, UNDP, the IUCN Species Survival Commission's Antelope and Sustainable Use Specialist Groups and Fauna & Flora International.

Those participating adopted the following recommendations:

"We recognise that the livelihoods of rural people in the range states of the saiga are under great pressure and that this is the main incentive for the continuance of poaching. We therefore recommend urgent initiatives to improve the incomes of rural people in the saiga ranges and to support alternative livelihood activities.

We applaud the very substantial increases in human and financial resources for anti-poaching enforcement activities and public awareness made by the Republic of Kalmykia and Kazakhstan governments under their 'Restoration of the Saiga' strategies. We call for further increases in such resources and for international support for these measures.

We welcome the existing collaboration between the range and other states at scientific level and are grateful for donor support for current conservation-related research. We recommend enhanced co-operation between the range states in conservation and awareness raising efforts, above all in seeking funding from international institutions and other donors. In particular we call for the signing or ratification of international and trans-boundary agreements such as the Memorandum of Understanding on Saiga Conservation, Restoration and Sustainable Use drawn up by the Convention on Migratory Species.

We draw attention to the effect on poaching for horns for the Chinese medicinal trade on the population of male saiga, with its huge negative potential for breeding success. We therefore urge CITES to work with the Chinese authorities to ensure that the illegal international trade is totally eliminated".

Russian version of this document