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Classroom lesson · Wildlife · 🇲🇳 Mongolia

Saiga Antelope

The steppe's most extraordinary-looking runner

A saiga antelope with its distinctive bulging nose grazing on the open steppe

Photo · Wikimedia Commons

What is it?

The saiga is a remarkable antelope that lives on the open steppes of Central Asia including parts of Mongolia. Its most striking feature is its large, bulging, flexible nose that hangs down over its mouth like a small trunk. This unusual nose helps filter out dust in summer and warm the freezing air in winter before it reaches the saiga's lungs.

Tell me more

Saiga are medium-sized antelopes - roughly the size of a large dog - with soft golden-brown fur and that unmistakeable proboscis nose. Males grow curved, semi-transparent horns that are highly valued in traditional medicine, which has unfortunately led to a lot of illegal hunting in the past. Today there are strict laws protecting saigas across their range.

Saiga are famous for their speed and their great seasonal migrations. They travel in large herds - sometimes thousands strong - across the steppe in search of fresh grass and water. Their migration routes are among the longest of any land mammal in Asia. Watching a saiga herd move across the steppe at speed is like watching a golden river flowing across the land.

Saiga numbers fell dramatically in the twentieth century and the species is considered endangered. Conservation organisations and governments across Central Asia now work together to protect them. In recent years, some populations have started to recover, giving hope for the future of this ancient steppe animal.

In the classroom

Walk your class through this in 15 minutes.

Talk together

Discussion prompts

  1. 01The saiga's nose looks very unusual. Can you think of other animals whose unusual features help them survive?
  2. 02Saiga migrate across huge distances. What challenges might a herd face on a long journey?
  3. 03Why do you think it is important to protect animals that might look a bit strange to us?
Try this

Classroom activity

Imagine you are a wildlife filmmaker following a saiga herd across the steppe for a whole year. Write a short script for three short scenes: the spring migration, the summer heat and the winter snow. Include what you see, hear and smell at each stage.

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