The Saiga Antelope In 1993 more than a million saiga antelope (Saiga tatarica) crowded the steppes of Central Asia. However, by 2004 just 30,000 remained, many of them female. The species had fallen prey to relentless poaching - with motorbikes and automatic weapons - in the wake of the Soviet Union's collapse. This 97% decline is one of the most dramatic population crashes of a large mammal ever seen. Poachers harvest males for their horns, which are used in fever cures in traditional Chinese medicine. The slaughter is embarrassing for conservationists. In the early 1990s, groups such as WWF actively encouraged the saiga hunt, promoting its horn as an alternative to the horn of the endangered rhino. "The saiga was an important resource, well managed by the Soviet Union, " says John Robinson, at the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) in New York City, US. "But with the breakdown of civil society and law and order, that management ceased. "
Question: This 97% decline is the most dramatic population crash of a large mammal ever seen.
Options:
A. true, B. false, C. uncertain
Answer: B