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Update by Mariya Vorontsova, Office of the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) in Russia, published in Saiga News Issue 20, on page 10 We have repeatedly visited this amazing corner of the Astrakhan region, communicated with the employees of the Sanctuary and watched their work. We always marvelled at the idyllic views (the boundless steppe, quietly grazing saigas, flocks of birds) that opened out in front of us. All this is possible through the efforts of a small group who protect the Stepnoi Sanctuary, within which saigas find rest and care at different times of their lives.

"Friends of Conservation Islands" - a movement without borders

Update by Eugenia Samtanova, Yashkul' Multidisciplinary Gymnasium School in Republic of Kalmykia in Russia, and Natalya Shivaldova, "Ekomaktab" Ecological Resource Centre in Uzbekistan. Published in Saiga News Issue 20, on page 12. In the beginning it only united conservation enthusiasts within Russia. This year the movement has stepped up to the international level, thereby proving that nature does not recognize borders.

Media Reports on Saiga Antelope

The following media reports were published in Saiga News Issue 20, on page 14. An ancient saiga skull is found in Yakutia: In July 2015, the skull of an ancient saiga was found on the banks of the Adycha river, Ulakhan Sullar area, near Batagov, Russia. The skull was Late Pleistocene in origin, indicating that the landscape of Yakutia at that time harboured both steppe animals like antelopes and tundra species like muskoxen and arctic foxes.

Updates to the Saiga Resource Centre

Announcement published in Saiga News Issue 20 on page 28. Searches can now be made in the Literature, Pictures and Video sections. Visitors can search literature by author, subject and year and can search pictures by photographer and subject.

First Ranger Station for the Stepnoi Sanctuary

Having once numbered hundreds of thousands of animals, the pre-Caspian saiga antelope population has dropped rapidly due to heavy poaching. In 2012 it was at 12,000 individuals, but since then poaching has intensified across the region. The population is now down to perhaps only 3,000 animals. A recent study by the SCA (in 2014) estimated that 34% of households in this region had eaten saiga meat in the previous 12 months; a rate which is clearly unsustainable. The only effective protection offered for this population is the Stepnoi Sanctuary.