Saiga

Saiga tatarica

Average

The **Saiga** (*Saiga tatarica*) is a mid-sized Holarctic ungulate featured in the Eurasia Animal Pack DLC for Planet Zoo.

## Zoopedia Description

### General

**Population In Wild:** 922,600 - 988,500

The saiga antelope (or Saiga tatarica) is a bovid living on the steppes and grasslands of Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Russia. It is tan in colour, with a pale underside, and has large eyes and rounded ears. The distinctive large nose has broad, mobile nostrils, which is larger in males. Males are also generally built larger and heavier than females, and carry upright, pale, and slightly translucent horns, which are 28cm to 38cm long. They stand 67cm to 81cm tall at the shoulder, are 1.1m to 1.4m long and weigh between 26kg and 69kg. Females are 61cm to 74cm tall, 1m to 1.28m long, and weigh 26kg to 45kg.

The saiga is considered Critically Endangered. After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1990, their numbers decreased due to poaching for their meat and horns, for use in traditional medicine. They also experienced several population crashes, caused by factors such as habitat loss, their migratory routes being interupted due to human development, the spread of lethal zoonotic diseases, and climate change (harsher winters leading to limited food availability, and hotter summers leading to better conditions for harmful bacteria to thrive). In the nineties, their numbers have been reduced to 40,000, from previously millions of individuals. Conservation efforts to reduce poaching and prevent the spread of diseases have helped increase their numbers again; however, the genetic diversity of wild saiga is much decreased.

### Social needs

Saiga antelopes live in mixed herds, comprised of interrelated groups of females and their offspring, and solitary males. During breeding season, a male gathers a harem of 5 to 10 females and their offspring.

### Reproduction

During the breeding season, mature male saiga antelopes attempt to herd sexually mature females into their harem, mounting and copulating with them when they are receptive. They guard their harem fiercely and are extremely aggressive towards rival males, even killing each other during fights. Towards the end of the breeding season, males will be very weak, as they spend all their time defending their harem without eating. Following the mating event, a female is pregnant for 5 months. 60% of births are twins, otherwise a single calf is born. Calves nurse from their mothers for 4 to 8 days, then they begin grazing, in addition to feeding on milk. They are fully weaned at 4 months old and become independent of their mothers at 7 months old, at which point they will join an unrelated harem or herd.

Males under 2 years old remain in herds outside of the breeding season, and are otherwise solitary, until they are strong enough to gather and defend their own harem. Females reach sexual maturity at 7 months old, but males rarely mate successfully before they are 2 years old.

## Animal Care

 FEEDING STATIONS
 FOOD ENRICHMENT
Small Barrel Feeder · Grazing Ball Feeder · Hanging Grazer Feeder · Scarecrow Feeder
Grab Ball · Herb Scent Marker · Rubbing Pillar · Scots Pine/Tamarind Scratching Tree

## Trivia

### Zoopedia Fun Facts

* The saiga antelope can run up to 50mph.
* The saiga antelope migrates over 600 miles between summer and winter.
* The saiga antelope’s nose is thought to be adapted to filter out dust in the hot summers.
* Saiga antelope are often predated by wolves, and their calves are often killed by foxes, dogs, and eagles.
* When trading rhino horns became illegal, saiga antelope horns became more in demand and were often used as a rhino horn substitute in traditional medicine. This was even actively encouraged by rhino conservationists.

### Other Trivia

* The saiga's real world conservation status was changed from critically endangered to near threatened in December 2023, and updated in-game in the 1.16.2 Update.

## Gallery

First tease of the Saiga in the announcement trailerFirst full reveal of the Saiga