Translated with AI
From July 1 to November 30 of this year, approximately 196,000 saiga antelopes were "removed" from the wild in Kazakhstan. Their carcasses were transferred to domestic meat processing plants, Fergana.ru reports, citing the republic's government press service.
"The work was carried out in strict accordance with scientific recommendations," the statement reads. According to the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources, the saiga population in Kazakhstan has reached a record high of 4 million individuals and will reach approximately 5 million after the lambing season in 2026.
"Given this rapid growth, authorized agencies, based on a biological study prepared by the Institute of Zoology, have implemented measures to sustainably manage the animal's population to prevent damage to agriculture and maintain ecosystem balance," the agency emphasized.
Special attention was paid to the accounting and storage of derivatives: all saiga horns were marked and sent for storage to the Ministry's subordinate State Enterprise "PO Okhotzooprom" under enhanced security and specialized infrastructure.
The saiga population in Kazakhstan declined sharply toward the end of the last century; in 2003, there were only 20,000 individuals in the country. Authorities banned saiga hunting until 2024, allowing only scientific harvesting, and began rebuilding the population.
"Unprecedented measures were taken in Kazakhstan to preserve the saiga population. However, the saiga was not listed in the Red Data Book of Kazakhstan. This is largely due to its ability to quickly restore and increase its population," explained Konstantin Plakhov, head of the Biocenology and Game Science Laboratory at the Institute of Zoology of the Science Committee of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of Kazakhstan.
In June 2022, then-Minister of Ecology Serikkali Brekeshev announced that the saiga population recovery plan in Kazakhstan had been exceeded, but that the saiga population had become so numerous that they were beginning to make life difficult for local farmers, trampling pastures and consuming livestock. Ultimately, a decision was made to reduce the saiga population by 10%, or cull 80,000 animals. This sparked public outrage. President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev criticized the decision at the time but did not reverse it.
In early 2024, saiga culling was suspended to conduct a "detailed census." Last spring, Kazakh authorities revived this idea, developing a corresponding "roadmap."
