Wild Saiga Antelope: Mass Mortality and Welfare

Saiga antelopes have experienced catastrophic mass mortality events that killed hundreds of thousands of animals in days — one of the most dramatic wildlife welfare crises on record.

Key Facts

A 2015 mass mortality event killed approximately 200,000 saigas — over 60% of the global population — in a few weeks
The cause was identified as Pasteurella multocida bacteria, normally harmless, that became lethal under climate-related stress
Calving females and their young were disproportionately affected, representing a reproductive collapse
Saiga populations had already been severely reduced by poaching for their horns in the 1990s
The 2015 event was linked to unusually warm, humid conditions during the critical calving period

Welfare Considerations

The 2015 saiga die-off represents one of the most extreme acute welfare crises in wildlife history: hundreds of thousands of animals dying rapidly from hemorrhagic septicemia in one of the most painful and distressing ways possible. The climate link means such events may increase in frequency. From a welfare perspective, each animal in a mass mortality event is an individual experiencing acute suffering at a scale almost impossible to comprehend. Conservation programs that maintain genetic diversity, protect remaining populations, and address the underlying climate conditions that triggered the die-off simultaneously serve conservation and individual welfare goals.

What You Can Do

Support the Saiga Conservation Alliance and monitoring programs in Central Asia
Advocate for climate policies that reduce the extreme weather conditions driving mass mortality events
Oppose the illegal trade in saiga horns that devastated populations in the 1990s
Engage with the scientific literature on mass mortality events and climate-wildlife welfare interactions