Saiga antelopes have experienced catastrophic population collapses from disease events, poaching, and habitat loss on Central Asian steppes, raising urgent welfare and conservation concerns.
The 2015 saiga mass mortality event represents one of the most dramatic wildlife welfare crises in recorded history. The bacterial infection triggered by unusual humidity and temperature caused hemorrhagic septicemia — animals died with massive internal bleeding within hours of showing symptoms. Eyewitnesses described apparently healthy animals collapsing suddenly across the steppe. The welfare suffering of 200,000 animals dying in this way within weeks is almost impossible to quantify. The historical poaching crisis of the 1990s caused a different welfare trajectory: gradual population collapse through chronic harvesting that disrupted social groups and migration patterns. Climate change threatens to increase the frequency of weather-triggered disease events.