During winter this turns longer, thicker and paler to a whitish color. Male Saiga antelopes have a pair of long, waxy colored horns with ring-like ridges. The nose is unusually large and swollen, an adaptation which helps warm and moisten the air inhaled, and keep out the desert dust. They are able to go without water for long periods of time. Saiga Antelopes are herbivores and graze on over a hundred different species of plants, the most important ones being grasses, prostrate summer cypress, saltworts, fobs, sagebrush and steppe lichens.
Wolves are their natural predators.
Foxes, stray dogs, eagles and ravens prey on newborns. Breeding time is from late November to late December. Saiga Antelopes are polygamous, and during the breeding season gather into groups with 5-10 females and one male. After a gestation period of 5 months, usually two young are born. Females reach sexual maturity at 7-8 months of age, males at 2 years.