Kalmyk antelope: photo and description. Antelope saiga: where he lives and what he eats

Saiga, margac, or Kalmyk antelope, is a cloven-hoofed mammal, a representative of the subfamily of these antelopes. Since 2002, the International Committee for the Conservation of Nature has been classified as endangered and the Red Book is included. In the 17-18 centuries, saigas, being the most numerous species of ungulates in Eurasia, inhabited all steppe and semi-desert areas from the Carpathians to Western China and Mongolia. Today the situation has changed dramatically. Uncontrolled barbaric hunting was the result of a catastrophic fall in the number of livestock of these animals. A sharp decrease in it put a face on the brink of extinction.

Kalmyk antelope: who is she?

Saigas are the only wild ungulates of mammals living in the steppe expanses of Russia. These amazing animals are known since ancient times. They were contemporaries of long-extinct mammoths and saber-toothed tigers and occupied huge territories, inhabiting all of Eurasia right up to the coast of Alaska. Due to its excellent adaptability to any conditions and high fertility, antelopes survived to the present day. They did not suffer the fate of prehistoric mammoths and woolly rhinoceroses, but human activity ranked these animals to endangered species.

Features of the view

Saigak is an animal that is not particularly large, its body length is up to 1-1.4 m and its height at the withers is 0.6 - 0.8 m, characterized by a characteristic humpbacked proboscis and having a mild color: reddish in summer and light gray in winter. Body weight of the antelope varies from 20 to 40 kg. There are individuals weighing up to 60 kg, but this is an extremely rare sight. The hoof print has the form of a heart with a forked end 6-8 cm in size and is very similar to the trace of a domestic sheep. In various non-standard or dangerous situations, antelopes give a voice - they are kind of bleating.

Saiga, whose photo is presented in the review, has a rather original and unforgettable appearance thanks to an enlarged proboscis on the muzzle. This important, though somewhat disfiguring muzzle is necessary for the animal. By increasing the lumen of the nasal cavity, it warms the cold air in winter, enabling saigas to more easily bear the hardships of winter cold. In summer, the dilated nasal passages are used as a filter, clearing the steppe air from dust and preventing it from entering the lungs. In severe conditions of life, such proboscis often saves the life of its owner.

The saiga moves along the steppe in a surprisingly even amble. He seems to roll, his head low. From any emerging danger, the antelope escapes, developing a speed of up to 60-70 km / h. True, the saiga is able to run at such a tempo no more than 10-12 km. On the run, he jumps up from time to time.

The heads of the males are decorated with smoothly curved light translucent horns, which begin to grow almost immediately after birth. Half-year-old horns have a dark hue. By the age of one year, the color of horns varies from dark to light. They acquire an excellent translucent, waxy-like structure. In adult males, the length of the horns reaches 40 cm.

The saiga horns, their extraordinary beauty and medicinal properties played a fatal role in his life. Highly valued on the black market, they have caused a barbaric extermination of a huge number of animals.

Habitat

In ancient times, saigas lived throughout Eurasia, but after the ice age they were preserved only in the steppe zones of the continent. Another 200 years ago, stretching to the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains, the range of their habitat has sharply narrowed in the 20th century and today it occupies small areas of the steppe regions of Russia. Steppe antelope inhabits exclusively open spaces with even, hard rocky or clay soils, avoiding even small copses and giving preference to endless low-grass steppes and semi-deserts. It is important for her to feel safe and not to be subjected to sudden attacks by natural enemies.

Today the saiga antelope inhabits the territories of five different states - Russia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. In the Russian open spaces, saiga populations are mainly located in Kalmykia, which gives reason to call the Kalmyk antelope. What does the saiga eat?

Inhabited in lowland dry areas, the saiga has become accustomed to eating steppe grasses and cereals in the summer, solyanki - in the winter. He is rather shy and prefers to stay away from settlements, bypasses the kitchen gardens and fields. Water for life support is needed only in the summer.

Where does the saiga live?

Saiga are kept in herds of different numbers - sometimes 10-50 heads, and sometimes 100 or more. They constantly wander - in winter they go to the little snow semi-deserts, in summer - to the steppe open spaces.

Saiga, the natural habitat of which is the steppe, is perfectly adapted to survival in the northern semi-deserts, it is able to withstand summer heat and winter cold, can eat more than poor vegetation and seldom drink. The herds of migrants migrate in the endless quest for unpretentious food, without any harm to agriculture. Saigas perfectly co-exist with domestic animals, grazing on some pastures and not eating them at all. We can say that livestock does not eat what the saiga feeds. His stomach digests weeds and poisonous plants that other herbivores bypass.

Migrations of saigas

Saigas are nomads. They live, constantly moving, do not stay anywhere for long. They are always on the road, searching for the main food - herbaceous vegetation.

Throughout the summer period the herds of saigas are grazed in small numbers in the steppes, eating on the run the shoots of various plain grasses, receiving food and water necessary for the body. By the winter they gather in thousand of herds and, sticking to the snowless areas, migrate to the south. The onset of winter colds, snowfalls, etc. make the antelope migrate to more convenient terrain. Excellent and hardy runners, saigas are able to overcome more than two hundred kilometers per day. But, of course, such an intensive movement can not do without victims. The herd, led by the leader, aspiring to leave as soon as possible from the zone of heavy conditions of snow captivity in more comfortable areas, moves with the speed of the most enduring males, without stopping for rest. Weak and sick individuals often do not stand such tests. Fearing to fall behind the relatives, they run, getting out of the way, and often fall dead while driving.

The combination of antelopes in huge herds and their active migration is a fascinating phenomenon, spectacular and grandiose. Each herd strictly follows the leader at some distance, repeating all his movements, even the most inconspicuous. Sometimes on a nomadic route the herds of saigas can be observed for several days.

Gon

With the beginning of winter, the time of the rush begins. During this period males lose their appetite and are very excited. They are particularly aggressive, between them there are fierce fights, during which often inflict serious wounds, sometimes leading to the death of one of the participants in the fight. Each male marks his own territory, leaving the litter, and builds his own "harem" from the females, recaptured in fights with fellow tribesmen, whose number can vary from 5 to 50 heads. Their number depends on the strength and activity of the male. In addition, he is forced to constantly confirm his right to own a harem. Another male can claim "wives", and then the fight starts again. When the owner of the harem loses, the victorious mugger takes several females.

Reproduction and life expectancy

The Kalmyk antelope does not live long, the life expectancy of females and males is different. Males live 4-5 years, females measured a longer period - 8-9 years. But the reproductive function of antelopes is incredible: they reproduce very quickly. Already at the age of seven months the females reach sexual maturity and participate in the race, bringing the first offspring at the age of one. Males reach maturity by only 2.5 years.

The annual calving takes place in May. Pregnant females, grouped in a flock, leave the herd, choosing for calving the most deaf areas of the steppes with small or very rarefied vegetation and the absence of water bodies, that is, places where predators do not look. Not arranging any special nooks, they give birth directly on the ground.

A female first-calf usually brings one calf, in more adult individuals 2-3 babies are born. The first days they are absolutely helpless, lie on the ground and practically do not move, merging due to their own coloring with the general background of the terrain. Nature took care of them, giving them the opportunity to be unobtrusive in the most vulnerable moments of life, which often saves them from the attack of natural enemies - ferrets, foxes, eagles or other predators, when approaching, the baby freezes, merging with the earth so that it is very difficult to see. Saiga, probably the most obedient children in the world. Without moving, they lie on the ground and wait for the mother to come and feed them. The females at this time graze, visiting the kids several times a day.

In a week, the saiga baby, whose photo is presented above, already follows the mother, after two can run, developing the speed of an adult, and a month later begins to pinch the grass.

Moulting

In summer, saiga wool has a rusty-sandy shade, as close as possible to the natural colors of dry steppes. On the back, it is darker in tone and much lighter on the sides. Twice a year - in the autumn and in the spring - a moult has a molt. Winter wool is a long and thick fur that grows to winter and protects the animal from snow storms. It is much lighter than summer and often has all the shades of light gray tones. In addition, by the winter saigas have hair on their faces, like those of reindeer. They protect the nose from hypothermia. During the whole winter period, the winter fur coat regularly serves the saiga, and with the onset of spring, it is replaced again by a light sandy-reddish summer fur.

Natural enemies of saigas

Saigas are animals that lead a daily life. The most dangerous enemy for adults is a steppe wolf, strong and intelligent, to escape from which the antelope can only escape. He is able to destroy more than a quarter of the herd population. The steppe wolves who have strayed into the packs overtake and destroy the males, weakened after the rut, the steely females, the sick animals. Less dangerous for antelopes are other predators. Attacks of jackals, foxes and stray dogs are often exposed to the not very strong grown Saiga. And newborn babies can become prey for ferrets, eagles and foxes. But a high level of reproduction of the species can balance natural disasters.

A large number of animals die from pasteurellosis. Only in 2010 the epidemic of this disease reduced the number of margaeca by 12 thousand head.

Hunting and poaching

Fifteen hundred years ago saigas inhabited steppe regions from Ukraine to Lake Baikal, but by the beginning of the 20th century they were preserved in Russia only in the Volga and Kazakhstan regions. It was such a monstrous extermination of a species that Lenin issued a special decree prohibiting hunting for antelope, which was not slow to affect the sharp increase in the number of nomadic herds.

By the middle of the 20th century, the saiga population had grown to two million. Obviously, it affected both the ban on shooting antelope, and the extinction of a dangerous parasite for animals - saiga gadfly. During this golden period, huge herds of migrants constantly wandered along all the routes of their migration. In the mid-fifties, commercial hunting was allowed again for saigas.

This situation changed in the 70s, when the active development of huge areas, which were the habitats of saigas, significantly reduced their area. The construction of pipelines, the construction of roads, the reclamation of lands, the extraction of minerals disrupted the habitual way of nomadic life, preventing the natural paths of migration of artiodactyls, and the number of saigas again decreased so that hunting for them was again banned. Antelopes mastered the Kalmyk space.

The disintegration of the Soviet Union hit the population of these animals with a ricochet. If earlier the species lived in the territory of one state and was protected by it, then
Today the saiga antelope is an animal that lives in several countries that have not signed any document of international conventions on the protection of rare species. Uncontrolled shooting of animals and poaching - these are the woes with which the largest wolf packs can not be compared. The destruction of the saiga population first for the meat, and then for the horns of the males, smuggled out to China, led to a catastrophic drop in the number of antelopes, which amounted to only 35,000 individuals. This is very small, considering that the vast majority of surviving antelopes are females.

Security measures

Taking into account the plight created with the saiga population, the state took the necessary measures to protect the species in the Aral Sea, Kazakhstan and the Astrakhan steppes. Today, in the Center where wild animals of Kalmykia are studied, there is a small, partially domesticated group as a reserve for the restoration of the species if unforeseen misfortunes will occur with wild saigas. About 20 thousand saigas live in a limited space in Kalmykia on the territory of the created biosphere reserve. The Kalmyk antelope also lives in the "Rostovsky" reserve on Lake Manych-Gudilo.

The wildlife fund helps to restore the saiga livestock - grants are allocated to support the created system of guarding merchants in Kalmykia.