saiga

Social Structure

• Live in packs or solo: Packs. They may be found in herds of up to 1,000 individuals.

• Roles within the community: Saiga antelope play a crucial ecosystem role as a selective grazer, influencing vegetation structures, distributing nutrients, and supporting biodiversity across its habitat.

• Male or female led groups: Saiga antelope live in herds and to my research knowledge, do not have a main antelope to lead them.

• Individuals that make up the group: Male and female saiga antelopes

• How do they interact with each other: Saiga antelope use their scent glands to communicate with each other, they spray trees456 or bushes to let other antelope know they've been there. They also whistle and bark like dogs.

Reproduction

• How often do they mate: Saiga antelope mate every december after the herds move south to avoid snow.

• How many mates do they have: Dominant males mate with a defend groups of up to 30 females. The average saiga has 5-10 mates.

• Time of year for mating: Fall-winter

• Mating rituals: Saigas congregate into groups consisting of 5-10 females and one male. Violent fights often break about between two males as they are very protective of their harem and it is not uncommon for a male saiga to kill another male saiga during these fights.

• Number of offspring produced at a time: 1-3

• Any unique characteristics of their mating: The saifa micro-trunk nose helps in communication and choosing mates. The loud noise that the male saiga makes with his nose are thought to advertise body size and condition and helps impress females.

Development

• Stages of development: After a gestation period of 139-152 days, females give birth in late April and May, youngsters nibble on grass within the first week of life, they are weaned at around four months old and saigas form herds of 30-40.

• How old before sexual maturity: Females have sexually matured at 8 months, males at 20 months.

• Activities and environment of stages: Saiga antelope walk around/graze in their environment throughout their life. Saiga movements in the open and vast grasslands are driven by unpredictable, local precipitation events followed by vegetation green up. Saiga shifts from directed movements to more wandering movements to track green up.

• Difference between males and females: Male saiga antelope take longer to sexually mature than females.

Causes of death

• Predation: Wolves, foxes, eagles, wild dogs. All typically preying on calves.

• Sexual Competition: Males compete  with each other for mated during a short breeding season, it is not uncommon for them to kill each other during their fights.

• Disease: Hemorrhagic septicemia, a bacterial infection.

• Other causes: Poaching and illegal trade.

Competition

• Inter-species-within the species: The Russian saiga and the Mongolian saiga.

• Intra-species-with other species: The springbok and gerenuk.

• What do they compete over: They compete with livestock for food and water sources.

• Effect of invasive species: Contributes to the decline of saiga antelope.

IUCN Rating

• What is the rating?: Near Threatened.

• Population: Between 922,600 amd 988,500 mature individuals.

• Population Trend: Now increasing after a period of decline.

Impact of Humans

• What impacts have occurred: Poaching for their horns used in a traditional medicine, habitat loss due to agricultural expansion, disruption of migration routes with infrastructure development, and diseases spread by livestock proximity.

• Potential Future impacts: Poaching will continue to be a great impact amongst saiga antelope.

• How long have humans been interacting with species: Thousands of years, there has been evidence of in human settlements including cave paintings and bones found near settlements.

• Efforts being made to minimize impacts: Establishing anti-poaching measures and law enforcement and establishing protected areas, improving habitats, and restoring water holes.