Saiga antelope leaps off list of critically endangered species

IUCN reclassification shows success of conservation work

12. December 2023 – In a development hailed as an unprecedented conservation triumph, the Saiga antelope has been reclassified from 'Critically Endangered' to 'Near Threatened' in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. NABU celebrates the species' recovery in Kazakhstan, after poaching previously drove the animals to near extinction, as the fruit of sustained conservation efforts in collaboration with partner organisations. From a low point of just 39,000 individuals in 2005, saiga populations in Kazakhstan have now recovered to over 1.9 million. Such resounding conservation wins are rare for species on the Red List.

NABU has been working in the region for many years on saiga recovery and conservation. "We are proud and happy to have contributed to this success story, together with our partners on the ground", says Thomas Tennhardt, Director of NABU's International Department. Going forward, NABU will continue to work to ensure that saiga populations improve across the species' entire natural range.

Community-based approach to species conservation

NABU's project work to support saiga recovery in the Ustyurt region of southwestern Kazakhstan places a strong focus on community-based species protection. "The people sharing the land they use for livestock and agriculture with the saiga are crucial for the survival of the species", emphasises Stefan Michel, Co-Speaker of the NABU Federal Working Group Eurasia, in a joint statement with partner conservation organisations. It is therefore essential to ensure local support for conservation work. "Local communities also profit from population recovery, by integrating the saiga antelopes into sustainable land use concepts", Michel explains.

NABU and its partners furthermore assist communities in training, equipping and empowering locals to combat poaching. In so doing, community members protect this species as a natural resource and a valuable part of their cultural identity. In addition, NABU uses creative environmental education to mobilise and inspire local youth to conserve this unique species. NABU is also actively investigating the growing conflicts of interest around the largest saiga populations in the Ural region and advising the Kazakh government on the development of sustainable solutions.

Teamwork makes the dream work

This comeback of the saiga antelope is the result of nearly two decades of conservation work by governments in the species' range, research organisations and NGOs, including NABU, the Saiga Conservation Alliance, the Altyn Dala Conservation Initiative (comprising the Government of Kazakhstan, the Association for the Conservation of Biodiversity of Kazakhstan, Fauna & Flora, the Frankfurt Zoological Society, and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds), as well as the Wildlife Conservation Society and WWF Mongolia.

NABU and its partner organisations praise the exemplary investments of the Government of Kazakhstan in species recovery, through actions including anti-poaching initiatives, law enforcement and border control measures and the establishment of new State Protected Areas. The Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) also played a crucial role in bringing governments and civil society partners together, to agree on and implement an International Work Programme on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of the Saiga Antelope. Long term support from donors has also been vitally important to sustaining project work in the region.

Ongoing conservation action required to ensure the species' future

This dramatic improvement in the species' status demonstrates the success of such conservation and management measures. However, it is also clear that without ongoing conservation action, the species' new Near Threatened status could rapidly deteriorate again. Poaching, illegal trade, disease, climate change and other human impacts continue to pose a threat to the saiga, and so conservation work must also continue, to secure the antelopes' future in Kazakhstan and to ensure that smaller populations in Mongolia, the Russian Federation and Uzbekistan also recover. The species will only be fully recovered if it regains its role in the ecosystem across its entire range. The conservation community remains unwaveringly committed to achieving this long-term goal.

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