The Saiga species’ (Saiga tatarica) category was changed from Critically Endangered to Near Threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
- The Saiga is the odd-faced antelope that have roamed the earth since the last Ice Age.
- The Saiga has two sub-species: Saiga tatarica tatarica (found in most of the range) and Saiga tatarica mongolica (found only in Mongolia).
- The antelope were once found throughout the Eurasian Steppe, the great band of grassland that stretches from Hungary in Europe to Manchuria in Asia.
- Today, the animal is found in fragmented populations within Kazakhstan, Mongolia, the Russian Federation and Uzbekistan, according to the Saiga Conservation Alliance (SCA), a network of researchers and conservationists working to protect the Saiga.
