Adults can run up to 50 mph in bursts, and herds have known to range hundreds of miles in several days. As recently as 1950 there could have been about two million saiga, however, the population since then has been reduced by about 97%. The source of the devastation is a very strong demand for the horns of the males for traditional chinese medicine. Poachers are killing the antelopes in a large numbers steadily. Some believe the horns can be used to treat fevers and they are sold for about $100 per pound.
Traditional medicine often has no basis in science; and is rooted in superstition or anecdotal evidence. It is especially tragic that so many of the antelope are being slaughtered over a misconception. The National Wildlife federation provided an account of the rate of slaughter in one 2004 incident, ”some 80,000 saiga crossed from Kalmykia into the neighboring Russian republic of Dagestan to the south. Weeks later, only a few animals returned. ”
Population size: approximately 42,000 but the rate of slaughter is very high, and constant due to poaching. Even in a protected area, the population has been cut 95% since 1997. The saiga is one of the most rapidly declining mammals in the world.
Reproduction: Females breed about once a year, with a litter size of 1-2 calves.
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