Search
A survey of two villages in West Kazakhstan was conducted to assess respondent's attitudes, knowledge and willingness to volunteer to conserve saiga. The impact of attending saiga awareness and education events was also assessed. The Theory of Planned Behaviour was found to be an effective framework for ascertaining the drivers of behavioural intention. From this, recommendations were made for future conservation interventions in the region, as well as recommendations for future research which may be of interest to the wider field of conservation.
This study assessed a participatory monitoring programme in Kalmykia, Russia, that employed inhabitants of the steppe to record sightings of saiga (Saiga tatarica) in three projects between 2008 and 2012. Trends in saiga numbers over the three projects were investigated using data from the three projects, and a questionnaire survey investigated the social impacts of the programme. Saiga antelope are critically endangered as a result of widespread poaching for their horns and meat throughout their range in Central Asia. Saiga horns are also known as ling yang (羚羊) and used in Traditional Chinese Medicine.
A case study of the saiga antelope in Kalmykia, Russia has been used to highlight the merits and shortcomings of utilising LEK. From participatory monitoring data collected using LEK, the current overall saiga distribution has been identified, as well as seasonal distributions within this. These data suggest that species typical mass migrations may no longer be occurring to the same extent as in the past. Finally, data was collected to investigate people's perception of the factors controlling current saiga distribution, this raised important information specifically about water availability that will complement future SDMs produced for the region.