The dramatic population collapse and recovery challenges facing the critically endangered saiga antelope.
Saiga welfare encompasses both the catastrophic acute suffering of mass mortality events and the chronic pressure of poaching on a recovering population. The 2015 mass death event, where hundreds of thousands of animals died rapidly from bacterial disease potentially triggered by climate-related conditions, represents one of the most significant wildlife welfare disasters of recent decades. Conservation success requires addressing poaching through demand reduction and law enforcement, protecting migratory corridors, and researching the disease dynamics that make populations vulnerable to similar events.