Fewer than 25,000 saiga antelopes remained in Kazakhstan in the early 2000s C.E. Today, the country’s spring census puts the population above 4.6 million — a recovery so dramatic it has reshaped what conservationists believe is possible for a species pulled back from the edge.
At a glance
- Saiga population: Kazakhstan’s 2026 C.E. nationwide aerial census recorded more than 4.6 million animals across three distinct populations, up from fewer than 25,000 at the species’ lowest point in the early 2000s C.E.
- Ural herd growth: The Ural population — the largest of the three herds — reached approximately 2.7 million animals, a 17.4% increase from 2025 C.E., while the Ustyurt population grew 52.6% to around 119,000.
- Conservation recognition: The Altyn Dala Conservation Initiative, led by the Association for the Conservation of Biodiversity of Kazakhstan, won the 2024 C.E. Earthshot Prize for its role in driving the species’ rebound.
How a species came back from the brink
The saiga (Saiga tatarica) is one of the stranger-looking creatures on the Eurasian steppe — its oversized, bulbous nose filters dust and regulates temperature across the extreme seasonal shifts of Kazakhstan’s grasslands. For most of human history, the animal moved across those plains in enormous herds. Then, in the late 20th century C.E., it nearly vanished.
Poaching for horn, habitat fragmentation, and disease drove the species to collapse. By the early 2000s C.E., the Kazakhstan population had fallen to fewer than 25,000 — a decline of more than 95% from historic levels. The species was listed as critically endangered on the IUCN Red List.
The turnaround required a coordinated effort involving Kazakhstan’s government, international conservation bodies, and local communities. Anti-poaching enforcement was strengthened, protected areas were expanded, and systematic scientific monitoring was established. Annual aerial surveys — the same surveys now showing 4.6 million animals — became a key tool for tracking population health and guiding management decisions.
The census and what it found
The 2026 C.E. spring survey was organized by the Okhotzooprom state enterprise under Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources. The Association for the Conservation of Biodiversity of Kazakhstan handled the scientific components, including flight planning and population estimates.
Two AN-2 aircraft flew 215 hours in total, maintaining specific altitude and speed parameters to produce consistent, comparable counts. The results showed growth across all three saiga populations:
- The Ural population reached approximately 2.7 million, up 17.4% from 2025 C.E.
- The Betpak-Dala population reached approximately 1.87 million, up 16.9%.
- The Ustyurt population reached around 119,000, up 52.6%.
Kazakhstan holds the vast majority of the world’s saiga, making its stewardship of the species globally significant. The saiga is not just an ecological indicator — it is a keystone grazer that shapes the steppe ecosystem it inhabits, and one of many species recovery success stories now reshaping the conservation conversation worldwide.
Success brings new complexity
A population that has grown nearly 200-fold in two decades does not go unnoticed. Farmers in several regions have reported crop damage and competition for pastureland as saiga herds expand into agricultural areas. Authorities are studying management options that preserve conservation gains while addressing those tensions — a challenge without an easy resolution.
The scale of that challenge reflects how thoroughly the recovery has worked. In conservation, it is relatively rare to be managing the consequences of too many animals rather than too few.
What drove it — and what it means
Environmental authorities credit the rebound to a combination of factors: tighter anti-poaching enforcement, expanded protected land, rigorous aerial monitoring, and sustained international coordination through bodies including the Convention on Migratory Species. The CMS Saiga Antelope Action Plan brought Kazakhstan, Russia, Mongolia, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan into a shared framework for managing transboundary herds.
The Altyn Dala Conservation Initiative — a flagship project of the ACBK that has worked to restore the steppe ecosystem alongside the saiga itself — won the 2024 C.E. Earthshot Prize, a global award for environmental solutions founded by Prince William. The recognition brought international attention to an effort that had largely unfolded far from the headlines.
The saiga’s story is also a reminder that conservation outcomes are not inevitable — they are built. The species survived because governments made enforcement a priority, scientists committed to long-term monitoring, and communities were drawn into stewardship rather than excluded from it. The ACBK has consistently emphasized that local engagement was as important as any legal protection.
Whether the saiga’s trajectory can be sustained — through disease outbreaks, climate shifts on the steppe, and the ongoing friction with agricultural land use — remains to be seen. But the baseline has changed irreversibly. A species that was nearly gone is now counted in the millions.
Read more
For more on this story, see: The Astana Times
For more from Good News for Humankind, see:
- Siberian crane recovery: population doubles
- 26 Australian species no longer threatened
- The Good News for Humankind archive on wildlife conservation
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