Species for Sale: Saiga Antelope
by Thomas Gomersall
The saiga antelope (Saiga tartarica) is a medium-sized, herbivorous mammal found on the steppes of Central Asia. Instantly recognisable by its trunk-like nose (which helps with thermal regulation and filtering dust), it is a nomadic animal that undertakes long seasonal migrations (Hoffman et al, 2008). Their sex ratios are heavily skewed, with adult males typically comprising only 25 per cent of individuals even in healthy populations (Milner-Gulland et al, 2001).
Item on Sale:
The horns of the male saiga are prized in China and other Asian countries for traditional medicine (under the trade name ling yang jiao) and, to a lesser extent, for making collectibles. Saiga horn products are one of the most commonly observed items in online wildlife markets in China and can come in liquid, tablet or powdered form (for medicines), or as jewellery, tools or ornaments (for collectibles) (Lam, 2018; Wendle, 2018). Horns can fetch up to US$3,000 per kilogramme and one kilogramme of powdered horn equates to roughly three dead saiga (Devitt, 2017).
In 1995, saiga were listed on Appendix II of the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), meaning that horns must have been harvested before then or have export permits proving that they were sustainably harvested in order for trade to be legal (Meibom et al, 2010). However, there is currently no means of verifying the legitimacy of saiga horn products in China (Lam, 2018). Moreover, in 2019, CITES added an amendment to its listing saying that, until further notice, there is no legal quota for horns from saiga range countries, effectively illegalising international trade (Shiilegdamba, 2019).
Hong Kong is listed by CITES as one of the six major saiga consumer and trading countries, being an important transit point for horns travelling between China, Japan and Southeast Asia (especially Singapore). Between 2007 and 2016 alone, the city re-exported approximately 1293 kg of horns to Japan and imported over 170 kg of horns and horn-derived medicines re-exported from Japan and Singapore (CITES, 2018; Meibom et al, 2010). Hong Kong also has its own domestic market in which medicinal and (increasingly) non-medicinal horn products are openly sold and easily available, although it is unclear whether the market caters primarily to locals or tourists (Lam, 2020).
Price:
While saiga antelope parts have been traded for centuries, for much of the 1900s, the Soviet Union (which included most saiga range countries) heavily regulated international trade. But with its dissolution in 1991 and the resulting economic and social instability, wildlife protection laws collapsed, hunting increased dramatically, and the free trade of horns with China saw a resurgence (Doughty, 2020; Samuel, 2020). Since then, saiga populations have declined by over 90 per cent and today it is a critically endangered species, with just five isolated sub-populations in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Russia and Mongolia remaining (IUCN Red List, 2020; Milner-Gulland et al, 2003).
Although saiga can breed very quickly (Bittel, 2020), the selective removal of males from the already female-biased populations has led to massively reduced reproduction rates (Milner-Gulland et al, 2003). This in turn impedes their ability to recover from mass die-off events caused by bacterial and viral infections, which are expected to become more frequent with climate change and increased proximity with livestock (Kock et al, 2018; Doughty, 2020).
The decline of saiga has other ecological impacts too. Their dung is a vital source of nutrients for plants — to the point where areas without saiga have significantly lower soil fertility — and they are likely important seed dispersers for the wide range of plant species that they eat. Therefore, having less saiga to deposit dung and seeds over wide areas during their migrations jeopardises their habitat’s productivity and plant diversity (Bekenov et al, 1998; Doughty, 2020). Reduced grazing also leads to grass becoming overgrown, making it harder for ground-nesting birds like the endangered steppe eagle to successfully build nests (Samuel, 2020).
How can Hong Kong help?
The continuing open trade of saiga horns and horn products in Hong Kong in spite of the CITES listing and its recent amendment suggests that local regulations against the horn trade and awareness of its illegality are greatly lacking. Indeed, anecdotal observations indicate that most of the horns being sold here are from recently killed saiga, implying that the loophole that allows the legal trade of horns imported before the CITES listing is being exploited to launder illegally poached horns (Lam, 2020).
“Traders in China very rarely keep saiga horn in their shops in case of sudden inspections and fines” says Jack Lam, an independent wildlife crime research and investigation consultant. “The fact that you can walk into traditional medicine shops in a major Hong Kong shopping mall and observe whole saiga horns is very telling of the local attitude on this issue”.
To address this, Hong Kong should increase inspections of horn imports to ensure that they have the proper CITES export permits proving their legality. It should also increase market inspections and penalties for possession of illegal saiga horn, which have proven an effective deterrent in China (Lau, 2020; Lam, 2020).
To improve awareness of the horn trade and its illegality, studies of the scale of horn consumption in Hong Kong, the demographics of consumers and their reason for horn consumption — similar to studies done in Singapore (Doughty et al, 2019; Theng et al, 2018) — should be conducted in order to craft effective education campaigns and other behaviour change interventions. Similarly, the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department needs to use effective communications channels (e.g. social media platforms) to increase awareness among both consumers and traders (Lau, 2020; Doughty et al, 2020).
Any action to curb the saiga horn trade would be of great help to the species’ recovery in the wild, as reduced poaching has already led to a steady regrowth in the Kazakhstani population, which in 2020 alone produced over 500 calves (Bittel, 2020).
References:
Bekenov, A.B., Grachevand, Iu. A. and E.J. Milner-Gulland. 1998. The ecology and management of Saiga antelope in Kazakhstan. Mammal Review, vol. 28: 1pp.–52pp.
Bittel, J. ‘Floppy-nosed antelope has baby boom, raising hope for critically endangered species.’ National Geographic, 19 June 2020, https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2020/06/saiga-antelope-baby-boom-endangered-species/?fbclid=IwAR10GI4ePnr-QreHIWfP1e4E5LWzM4fJhxDsBu0wlN3-zm9n19yGkmlS1-o (Accessed: 23 June 2020).
CITES Seventieth meeting of the Standing Committee. Saiga antelope (Saiga spp.): Report of the Secretariat. Rosa Khutor, Sochi (Russian Federation), 1–5 October 2018. Available from: https://cites.org/sites/default/files/eng/com/sc/70/E-SC70-58.pdf (Accessed: 24 August 2020).
Devitt, E. ‘The spirit of the steppes: Saving Central Asia’s saiga.’ Mongabay, 27 February 2017, https://news.mongabay.com/2017/02/the-spirit-of-the-steppes-saving-central-asias-saiga/ (Accessed: 2 September 2020).
Doughty, H., interviewed by Thomas Gomersall, 2020, The University of Oxford.
Doughty, H., Veríssimo, D., Tan, R.C.Q., Lee, J.S.H., Carrasco, L.R., Oliver, K. and E.J. Milner-Gulland. 2019. Saiga horn user characteristics, motivations and purchasing behaviour in Singapore. PLoS One, vol. 14(9): e0222038.
Doughty, H., Wright, J., Veríssimo, D., Lee, J.S.H., Oliver, K. and E.J. Milner-Gulland. 2020. Strategic advertising of online news articles as an intervention to influence wildlife product consumers. Conservation Science and Practice, e272: 1pp.–14pp.
Hoffman, R.S., Lunde, D., MacKinnon, J., Wilson, D.E. and W.C. Wozencraft. 2008. A guide to the mammals of China. Princeton University Press, 41 William Street, Princeton, New Jersey, United States of America. 471pp.
IUCN Red List, Saiga, [website], 2020, https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/19832/50194357 (Accessed: 2 March 2020).
Kock, R.A., Orynbayev, M., Robinson, S., Zuther, S., Singh, N.J., Beauvais, W., Morgan, E.R., Kerimbayev, A., Khomenko, S., Martineau, H.M., Rystaeva, R., Omarova, Z., Wolfs, S., Hawotte, F., Radoux, J. and E.J., Milner-Gulland. 2018. Saigas on the brink: Multidisciplinary analysis of the factors influencing mass mortality events. Science Advances, vol. 4(1): eaao2314.
Lam, J.Y.K. 2018. An overview of the online trade in saiga antelope horns in China. Saiga News, issue 23: 3pp.–5pp.
Lam, J.Y.K., interviewed by Thomas Gomersall, 2020.
Lau, W., interviewed by Thomas Gomersall, 2020, TRAFFIC-Hong Kong
Meibom, S. v., Vaisman, A., Neo Liang, S.H., Ng, J. and H. Xu. 2010. Saiga Antelope Trade: Global Trends with a Focus on South-east Asia. TRAFFIC project report to the CITES Secretariat. TRAFFIC Europe.
Milner-Gulland, E.J., Kholodova, M.V., Bekenov, A., Bukreeva, O.M., Grachev, Iu. A., Amgalan, L. and A.A. Lushchekina. 2001. Dramatic declines in saiga antelope populations. Oryx, vol. 35(4): 340pp.–345pp.
Milner-Gulland, E.J., Bukreeva, O.M., Coulson, T., Lushchekina, A.A., Kholodova, M.V., Bekenov, A.B. and A. Iu Grachev. 2003. Reproductive collapse in saiga antelope harems. Nature, vol. 422: 135pp.
Samuel, C., interviewed by Thomas Gomersall, 2020, Saiga Conservation Alliance.
Shiilegdamba, E. ‘With new protections, saiga antelope may continue to be a symbol of Central Asia (commentary).’ Mongabay, 30 August 2019, https://news.mongabay.com/2019/08/with-new-protections-saiga-antelope-may-continue-to-be-a-symbol-of-central-asia-commentary/ (Accessed: 2 September 2020).
Theng, M., Glikman, J.A. and E.J. Milner Gulland. 2018. Exploring saiga horn consumption in Singapore. Oryx, vol. 52(4): 736pp.–743pp.
Wendle, J. ‘These rare antelope face double jeopardy: Disease and poaching.’ National Geographic, 28 August 2018, https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2018/08/saiga-antelope-poaching-disease/ (Accessed: 24 June 2020).
