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In fact, the grave environmental and health effects of nuclear weapons testing at Semipalatinsk are now clear. Less well known are the consequences of biological weapons testing on the territory of Kazakhstan. From 1936 to 1992 , Vozrozhdeniye Island, an island in the western part of the Aral Sea whose territory is divided between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, was the major proving ground in the Soviet Union for the open-air testing of biological warfare (BW) agents.
We analysed spatio-temporal locations of saiga calving aggregations in Kazakhstan over the last four decades obtained from aerial and ground surveys, to identify the factors determining the selection of calving sites within the species' range as well as any changes in these locations over time. Generalized mixed models were employed in a use - availability framework to assess the factors distinguishing calving from random sites and predict suitable areas for calving.
The Saiga Antelope Saiga tatarica inhabits the semi-arid deserts of Central Asia; it is found in Kazakhstan, Mongolia, the Russian Federation and in parts of Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. The species has been hunted for its horns, meat and hides for several centuries and there are records of historic exports of Saiga horns to China in the 18th century... Saiga horns are also known as ling yang (羚羊) and used in Traditional Chinese Medicine.
The Kazakhstan government has provided substantial funding for anti-poaching patrols and aerial surveys, has passed legislation strengthening rangers' powers of arrest, and is considering establishing two protected areas for saigas.
In the Republic of Kalmykia (Russian Federation), the Government and the Department of Natural Resources have been active in strengthening saiga conservation, and the President has issued a decree on emergency measures for saiga conservation.
Two international meetings on the conservation of steppe ungulates were held from 25 - 30 October 2004 in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. The first was devoted to the conservation and management of the Mongolian gazelle, Procapra gutturosa, and was organized by the World Conservation Society (WCS), in collaboration with the US Agency for International Development, the UNDP/ GEF Project on Biodiversity Conservation and Sustain- able Livelihood Options in the Grasslands of Eastern Mongolia, the WWF Mongolian Program Office and the Mongolian Academy of Sciences.
Saiga Research Expedition
On 27th June 2015, a 12-day expedition was launched to
investigate the reasons for the mass die-off of Saiga antelopes in
May 2015. (On 5 June the official death toll stood at 134,000
saigas).
The main goal of this field mission was to follow the migration
routes taken by saiga antelope this spring and take samples of the
environmental components; water, soil, and vegetation, which may
have all potentially affected the saigas, as well as investigating
possible links with deaths of domestic animals and speaking to
local people.
The Ustiurt population in Kazakhstan was relatively secure but is now also under threat. There is evidence of much reduced conception rates in Kalmykia, probably because of selective hunting of adult males. The Mongolian subspecies shows no evidence of recent decline, but is of concern because of the population's small size. The cause of the population declines appears to be poaching for meat and horns, which is a result of economic collapse in the rural areas of Kazakhstan and Kalmykia. Saiga horns are also known as ling yang (羚羊) and used in Traditional Chinese Medicine. We suggest that full aerial surveys be carried out on the Betpak-dala (Kazakhstan) and Mongolian populations, and…
Due to dramatic reductions in group size and density, current estimates of abundance are probably substantially lower than the true population size, and the level of uncertainty surrounding these estimates precludes their use for monitoring trends. This has implications for the Government of Kazakhstan's ability to monitor progress towards their agreed conservation goals. The method is potentially widely applicable to species for which historical data on relative abundance and group size are available.