#675: Saiga

The Saiga is an antelope once found across the Eurasian Steppes. Now, due to uncontrolled hunting for food and his horn, numbers have shrunk considerably and he is classified as Critically Endangered. Unfortunately, further pressure has been put on the population by a mysterious illness, which by May 2015 had eliminated one third of the living population. Saiga are herd animals, gathering in large groups on the grasslands. Here they feed on a number of plants, including those distatseful to other animals. The distinctive large snout acts to filter dust during the dry summer months, whilst also cooling the blood. In the winter it warms the frigid air as the animal breathes.