Where does the Mongolian Saiga live?
The saiga antelope is a species which in antiquity inhabited a vast area of the Eurasian steppe, from the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains and the Caucasus to Mongolia and Dzungaria. During the Pleistocene, it ranged across the mammoth steppe from the British Isles to Beringia. Today, the dominant subspecies occurs only in Kalmykia and Astrakhan Oblast of Russia and in the Ural Mountains, Ustyurt Plateau and Betpak-Dala regions of Kazakhstan. It is regionally extinct in Romania, Ukraine, Moldova, China and south-western Mongolia.
What does the Mongolian Saiga eat?
Saigas form very large herds that graze in semideserts, steppes and grasslands, eating several species of plants. A portion of the Ustyurt population migrates south to Uzbekistan and occasionally to Turkmenistan in winter. It is recognisable by its long, strongly arched snout, which hangs over the mouth and gives the look of a short trunk.
Is the Mongolian Saiga endangered?
Yes: the IUCN lists it as Near Threatened, and it is threatened with disappearance in Central Asia. The Mongolian subspecies occurs only in western Mongolia.
