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We examined 133 saigas culled for meat in autumn 1997, and found three species of cestode and 12 nematodes (nine in the abomasum), but no trematodes or lungworms. The most abundant species were Marshallagia marshalli, Marshallagiamongolica,andNematodirus gazellaein the abomasum,Nematodirus gazellaein the small intestine, andSkrjabinema ovisin the large intestine.
Long-term population dynamics research has revealed fundamental differences in how sex/age classes are affected by changes in density and weather. Consequently, management must be tailored to the age and sex structure of the population, rather than to simple population counts.
Although populations of Saiga tatartica tatarica have reasonable levels of genetic diversity, their conservation status is perilous. The Kalmykian and Kazakhstan samples each contained unique haplotypes, although the species as a whole appears polyphyletic, consistent with recent fragmentation and rapid population decline. An understanding of the population genetics of this species is an essential prerequisite for conservation action.
Partatuberculosis in Saiga Antelope (Saiga Tatarica) and Experimental Transmission to Domestic Sheep
One experimentally infected sheep developed progressive clinical illness 1 yr postinoculation. Few M. paratuberculosis were isolated from feces or tissues although an extensive granulomatous mycobacterial enteritis, lymphadenitis and lymphangitis were observed containing large numbers of typical acid-fast organisms. No clinical illness was observed in the second inoculated sheep after 18 months of observation, although infection was demonstrated at necropsy. Both sheep developed AGID and LST reactions indicative of paratuberculosis. This study demonstrated that a difficult to culture isolate of M. paratuberculosiswas responsible for paratuberculosis in captive wild ruminants and was…
Saigas were shown to be phylogenetically far closer to gazelles than black-tailed gazelles and pygmy antelopes. In general, the genetic analysis data are in agreement with the results of morphological studies.
With an estimated resident population of only 500 saigas
in Uzbekistan we are facing the very real risk of losing them from
another of their traditional ranges.
Until recently Vozrozhdeniye's restricted military status
and location in the Aral sea ensured protection of its
biodiversity. However, drying of the Aral sea through extraction
for irrigation has opened up a land corridor to the saiga's
habitat, and the removal of the island's restricted status means
people are now freely entering the area to hunt the
saigas.
The saiga antelope is an exotic and unfamiliar element of the British Pleistocene mammal fauna. Until the early 1980s, there was only one confirmed record from the British Isles, a well-preserved frontlet with both horn cores from the Thames gravels at Orleans Road, Twickenham, London (B.M.fN.H) Paleontology Department (M4448) described and fisured by Smith Woodward (1890) and again by Reynolds (1939).
During the Soviet period the provision of winter feed shielded domestic livestock from winter mortality while hunting controls allowed saiga numbers to recover from overhunting. Livestock and saiga numbers during this period were high and there is evidence that productivity was affected. However, there were no crashes in livestock numbers linked to high densities, probably because rainfall variability is relatively low and catastrophic droughts are rare. Today livestock numbers in Kazakhstan have crashed because of the withdrawal of state support and the use of animals as currency. The collapse of the state also meant the end of hunting controls and increased poverty, which has lead to…