Conservation boost for 'ugly duckling' antelope
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Despite legal protection, the Saiga are hunted for their meat and horns, which are used in traditional medicine. Other threats include disease, pasture degradation through overgrazing by livestock and other disturbances from oil and gas extraction work and possibly climate change.
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Saiga antelopes [File photo] |
The new conservation measures are expected to harmonize monitoring and surveys to regularly track all populations. Aerial and ground surveys will determine changes, with emphasis on calving, rutting and two migration areas. Due to their long migration between winter and summer pastures, it can be extremely difficult to find them.
The experts at the meeting carried with them figures released in a report commissioned by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and compiled by TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network, which raised the alarm over the levels of illicit trade in Saiga horns even before this year's mass deaths.
The report brings together information on the Saiga horn trade gleaned from interviews with experts and government officials, together with market surveys in Malaysia and Singapore, where Saiga horns are readily available.
"The key to success for the conservation of these unique looking antelopes of the Eurasian steppes has been the engagement of local people," said CMS Executive Secretary Elizabeth Maruma Mrema. "This week's meeting paves the way for implementing the international action plan for the conservation of this remarkable animal across its entire range."
Governments are seeking to address the fundamental motivation for poaching Saiga, namely poverty and unemployment. Involving local communities will be critical to the conservation measures implemented under the CMS Saiga agreement. Incentives to combat poaching are being developed through alternative livelihoods in deprived steppe communities.
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