Rapid Response to the Saiga Antelope Emergency in Western Kazakhstan

Betty White Wildlife Rapid Response Fund Aids Rare Antelope

Morris Animal Foundation’s Betty White Wildlife Rapid Response Fund supports Fauna & Flora International’s (FFI) efforts to study the rare and beautifully unique saiga antelope in Kazakhstan. In May of this year, more than 12,000 critically endangered saiga antelopes were found dead in western Kazakhstan. Saigas have experienced one of the fastest declines recorded for mammals in recent decades: a 95 percent decrease in population over the past 20 years. This distinctive-looking antelope, which has a large, trunk-like nose that hangs over its mouth, once numbered in the millions and migrated in herds up to 100,000 strong across the plains of Central Asia and Russia. Sadly, the species has dwindled to about 80,000 globally since the early 1990s. The current die-off of the saiga is thought to be due to an infectious disease, and with Foundation funding, FFI will work with the Kazak State Committee for Forestry and Hunting in their efforts to identify possible causes of the disease and contributing environmental or ecological factors. This work will make an important contribution to efforts to halt the decline in these unique animals.

Please support the Betty White Wildlife Rapid Response Fund. Donate today.

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Dr. Richard Kock, Fauna & Flora International, Inc.