The Saiga antelope

GS PAPER II: Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment.

Context: The Saiga antelope, which was classified as a critically endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature in 2018 is making a comeback.

The Saiga antelope:

• Kazakhstan is home to a majority of the world's Saiga.
• The population of the Saiga antelope has more than doubled in Kazakhstan since 2019. It rose from 3,34,000 to 8,42,000 since the last aerial survey.
• Around 2,00,000 antelopes were wiped out by a nasal bacterium that spread in unusually warm and humid conditions in 2015.
• The International Union for Conservation of Nature deems the Saiga to be among five critically endangered antelope species.
• The Saiga is known for its distinctive bulbous nose.

Threats to Saiga:

• The threat of poaching is fuelled by the demand for the Saiga's horn in traditional Chinese medicine.

Climate change and the expansion of human activity through farming and infrastructure projects are other threats to the Saiga.

https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/karnataka/teacher-comes-up-with-tree-top-solution-to-overcome-poor-network-connectivity/article35010613.ece?homepage=true