Why are saigas out of stock

The Saiga antelope Saiga tatarica and S. The saiga generally inhabits open dry steppe grasslands and semi-arid deserts. This antelope has an extremely unusual appearance with an over-sized and flexible nose, the internal structure of which acts like a filter.

During the summer it filters out a dust kicked up by the herd and during the winter warms up the freezing air before it is taken into the lungs. In the spring large herds of female saiga gather and migrate to the breeding areas. In the summer the herds break into the smaller groups and from the autumn they gather again to move to the winter grounds.

The length of the journeys varies depending on the weather and forage conditions. However, it may reach up to 1, km a year.

Their migration route typically follows a north-south direction. However, it also has a nomadic pattern. Such a drastic decline happened because of poaching.

As saiga horns are highly valued in traditional Chinese medicine the illegal trade became more widespread due to the hard economic conditions and impoverishment of the local human population and weaker control after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. There are currently five subpopulations of saiga. The largest population inhabits central Kazakhstan Betpak Dala , the second largest group is found in the Urals in Kazakhstan and Russian Federation, others belong to Kalmykia in the Russian Federation and the Ustyurt Plateau region in southern Kazakhstan and north-western Uzbekistan.

The population of Mongolian saiga occurs in the west of the country. The current population numbers total about , saigas in all the subpopulations combined. Poaching persists as a key threat, as demand for saiga horns remains high and they are illegally sold on the black market. A rise of mass mortality probably due to diseases occurring annually from poses yet another threat.

Lastly, the development of extractive industries and related infrastructure development causes fragmentation and degradation of saiga habitats. If you cannot enable cookies in your browser, please contact us — we are always here to help! Unfortunately we are unable to offer our excellent shopping experience without JavaScript. Please add " opticsplanet. Gun Model: Saiga Color: Black. Tap Tap to Zoom. Saiga Fiberforce Stock.

You May Also Like. Free Gift Available. Despite the waves of death, saiga populations in Kazakhstan were reported to have actually increased to , Efforts to preserve saiga habitat and improve their ability to migrate seemed to have done wonders for this bad-luck species.

The population continued to increase. By early the total saiga population was—amazingly—estimated at more than a quarter of a million. Kazakhstan held about , of those animals, with the rest in Russia, Monglia and other nearby countries. This past spring the mass die-offs started again in Kazakhstan. Worse still, the deaths occurred during calving season, meaning it could take generations for the species to recover.

The cause of these deaths, several months after they occurred, remains a mystery. Conservationists meeting last week at the Convention on Migratory Species CMS in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, also discussed the idea that the mass mortality event could have been caused by changes in vegetation or weather.

Can the saiga be saved in the wake of these devastating losses? Delegates to the CMS meeting have now come up with a five-year working plan to address the multiple threats the species faces. According to CMS representatives, specific actions planned between now and include altering—in some as-yet-undisclosed way—the border fence between Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, stepping up national reporting, and addressing saiga health.

At this point I admit to having a pretty fair amount of anxiety about what next spring will bring. Will it be good news or bad? Only time will tell. This story was originally published by Scientific American.