Saiga antelopes have suffered catastrophic population collapses driven largely by poaching for their horns. Understanding the trade dynamics is essential for effective conservation.
Saiga conservation involves both individual welfare harms from poaching and population-level threats from disease die-offs. Poaching males — who bear the coveted horns — creates severely skewed sex ratios, impairing reproduction. Mass mortality events caused by bacterial infections kill tens of thousands of animals within days, representing catastrophic acute suffering. Climate change may increase the frequency and severity of these die-off events. The most effective welfare interventions combine anti-poaching enforcement, community engagement to reduce demand for saiga horn, and veterinary monitoring to detect disease outbreaks early.