Kazakhstan sees rare antelope rebound after mass die off

[Still Waters]

The population of the critically endangered Saiga antelope has more than doubled since 2019, Kazakhstan said Friday, giving conservationists fresh hope for the steppe-dwelling animal's long-term survival.

News that the Central Asian country's Saiga population rose from 334,000 to 842,000 since the last time an aerial survey was carried out suggests it is continuing to rebound after a massive die-off in 2015.

Kazakhstan's ecology ministry said in a statement the boom was "an indicator of the effectiveness of measures to conserve saiga populations and counteract poaching".

https://phys.org/news/2021-05-kazakhstan-rare-antelope-rebound-mass.html

[Still Waters]

Update:

Rare saiga antelope population now over a million in Kazakhstan

The population of endangered Saiga antelopes in Kazakhstan is now over 1.3 million, the ecology ministry said Tuesday, in the latest boost to a species threatened by poaching and disease.

But the success of conservation efforts have raised fears that Kazakhstan will once again allow hunting, with a ban introduced in the late 1990s running out in 2023.

https://phys.org/news/2022-05-rare-saiga-antelope-population-million.html

[+Hammerclaw]

If the population doubles every three years, hunting won't put much of a dent in the birth-death rate.