Saiga tataricasaiga

Ge­o­graphic Range

Saiga tatar­ica pop­u­la­tions are con­cen­trated in three main areas within cen­tral Asia: Mon­go­lia, Kaza­khstan, and Kalmykia. (Mil­ner-Gul­land 1994)

Habi­tat

Saiga tatar­ica in­habit dry steppes and semi deserts. Herds are found in grassy plains void of rugged ter­rain and hills. (Hep­t­ner, et. al. 1988)

Phys­i­cal De­scrip­tion

The most strik­ing fea­ture of a saiga is its large head with a huge mo­bile nose that hangs over its mouth. Males have a pair of long, waxy col­ored horns with ring-like ridges along their length. Ex­cept for the un­usual snout and horns, S. tatar­ica look sim­i­lar to small sheep. Saiga an­telopes are ap­prox­i­mately .6 m to .8 m tall at shoul­der height and are ap­prox­i­mately 1 m to 1.5 m long. They have long, thin legs and a slightly ro­bust body. Dur­ing the sum­mer, S. tatar­ica have a short coat that is yel­low­ish red on the back and neck with a paler un­der­side. In the win­ter, the coat be­comes thicker and longer. The win­ter pelage is dull gray on the back and neck and a very light, brown-gray shade on the belly. Saiga an­telopes also have a short tail.

(Hep­t­ner, et. al. 1988; Sokolov 1974)

  • Range mass
    30 to 45 kg
    66.08 to 99.12 lb

Re­pro­duc­tion

Fe­male saigas reach sex­ual ma­tu­rity at 7 to 8 months while the males which reach sex­ual ma­tu­rity at 2 years. The breed­ing pe­riod lasts from late No­vem­ber to late De­cem­ber. A fe­male is preg­nant for 5 months and usu­ally gives birth to two young. Young begin to graze at 4-8 days old. Lac­ta­tion lasts for about four months. In cap­tiv­ity, young saigas oc­ca­sion­ally nurse from un­re­lated adults; how­ever, this has never been ob­served in the wild. (Rubin, et. al 1994; Sokolov 1974)

  • Key Reproductive Features
  • gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate)
  • sexual
  • Range number of offspring
    1 to 3
  • Average number of offspring
    1.3
  • Average number of offspring
    1.7
    AnAge
  • Range gestation period
    4.63 to 5.07 months
  • Range weaning age
    2.5 to 4 months
  • Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female)
    Sex: female
    331 days
    AnAge
  • Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male)
    Sex: male
    669 days
    AnAge
  • Parental Investment
  • extended period of juvenile learning

Lifes­pan/Longevity

Be­hav­ior

Saiga tatar­ica are a polyg­a­mous species. Dur­ing the breed­ing sea­son, saigas con­gre­gate into groups con­sist­ing of 5 to 10 fe­males and one male. Males are very pro­tec­tive of their harem. Vi­o­lent fights often break out be­tween two males. It is not un­com­mon for a male saiga to kill an­other dur­ing these bat­tles. Male saigas grow very weak to­ward the end of the breed­ing sea­son. They do not graze at all dur­ing the breed­ing sea­son and spend most of their stored en­ergy de­fend­ing their harem. As a re­sult, male mor­tal­ity often reaches 80 to 90%. When the breed­ing sea­son is over, S. tatar­ica form herds con­sist­ing of 30-40 in­di­vid­u­als. They oc­ca­sion­ally mi­grate as a group to es­cape snow­storms and droughts. Dur­ing the day, saigas graze and visit wa­ter­ing holes. Be­fore rest­ing at night, they dig small cir­cu­lar de­pres­sions in the soil to serve as beds.

(Hep­t­ner, et. al. 1988)

Com­mu­ni­ca­tion and Per­cep­tion

Food Habits

Saiga an­telopes are her­bi­vores. They graze on over one hun­dred dif­fer­ent plant species; the most im­por­tant being grasses, pros­trate sum­mer cy­press, salt­worts, fobs, sage­brush, and steppe lichens. (Hep­t­ner, et. al. 1988)

Eco­nomic Im­por­tance for Hu­mans: Pos­i­tive

Saiga an­telopes are val­ued for their fur, meat, and horns. Their horns are con­sid­ered their most valu­able fea­ture. The horns are ground up and com­monly used in Chi­nese med­i­cine to re­duce fevers. (But, et. al. 1990)

  • Positive Impacts
  • food
  • body parts are source of valuable material

Eco­nomic Im­por­tance for Hu­mans: Neg­a­tive

Saiga tatar­ica oc­ca­sion­ally tram­ple agri­cul­tural plants and feed on crops. (Sokolov, 1974)

Con­ser­va­tion Sta­tus

Up until 1990, Saiga tatar­ica were suc­cess­fully man­aged by the So­viet Union. How­ever, the break-up of the So­viet state led to the end of the in­tense man­age­ment of the saiga an­te­lope. Cur­rently, the pop­u­la­tion is rapidly de­clin­ing due to se­vere poach­ing. (Mil­ner-Gul­lan 1994)

Other Com­ments

Wolves are the prin­ci­ple nat­ural preda­tor of adult and new born saiga. Foxes and stray dogs prey on new­born saigas. (Sokolov, 1974)

Con­trib­u­tors

Lau­ren Pas­coe (au­thor), Uni­ver­sity of Michi­gan-Ann Arbor.

Glossary

Palearctic

living in the northern part of the Old World. In otherwords, Europe and Asia and northern Africa.

World Map

bilateral symmetry

having body symmetry such that the animal can be divided in one plane into two mirror-image halves. Animals with bilateral symmetry have dorsal and ventral sides, as well as anterior and posterior ends. Synapomorphy of the Bilateria.

chemical

uses smells or other chemicals to communicate

endothermic

animals that use metabolically generated heat to regulate body temperature independently of ambient temperature. Endothermy is a synapomorphy of the Mammalia, although it may have arisen in a (now extinct) synapsid ancestor; the fossil record does not distinguish these possibilities. Convergent in birds.

food

A substance that provides both nutrients and energy to a living thing.

migratory

makes seasonal movements between breeding and wintering grounds

motile

having the capacity to move from one place to another.

native range

the area in which the animal is naturally found, the region in which it is endemic.

sexual

reproduction that includes combining the genetic contribution of two individuals, a male and a female

social

associates with others of its species; forms social groups.

tactile

uses touch to communicate

tropical savanna and grassland

A terrestrial biome. Savannas are grasslands with scattered individual trees that do not form a closed canopy. Extensive savannas are found in parts of subtropical and tropical Africa and South America, and in Australia.

savanna

A grassland with scattered trees or scattered clumps of trees, a type of community intermediate between grassland and forest. See also Tropical savanna and grassland biome.

temperate grassland

A terrestrial biome found in temperate latitudes (>23.5° N or S latitude). Vegetation is made up mostly of grasses, the height and species diversity of which depend largely on the amount of moisture available. Fire and grazing are important in the long-term maintenance of grasslands.

Ref­er­ences

But, P., L. Lung, and Y. Tam. 1990. Ethnophar­ma­col­ogy of Rhi­noc­eros Horns. I: An­tipyretic ef­fects of Rhi­noc­eros horn and other an­i­mal horns. Jour­nal of Ethnophar­ma­col­ogy, vol. 30. El­se­vier Sci­en­tific Pub­lish­ers, Lim­er­ick.

Hep­t­ner, V., A. Nasi­mo­vish, and A. Ban­nikov. 1988. Mam­mals of the So­viet Union, vol. 1. Amerind Pub­lish­ing Co., New Deli.

Mil­ner-Gul­land, E. 1994. A Pop­u­la­tion Model for the Man­age­ment of the Saiga An­te­lope. Jour­nal of Ap­plied Ecol­ogy, vol. 31. Black­well Sci­en­tific Pub­li­ca­tions, Lon­don.

Rubin, E., and K. Michel­son. 1994. Nurs­ing Be­hav­ior in Dam-Reared Russ­ian Saiga. Zoo Bi­ol­ogy, vol. 13. Wiley Liss, NY.

Sokolov, V. 1974. Saiga tatar­ica. Mam­malian Species no. 38. The Amer­i­can So­ci­ety of Mam­mal­o­gists.