Ulaanbaatar
Home sweet Home – Release of a baby saiga
Society
Ulaanbaatar, February 1, 2023 /MONTSAME/. What a great news we have! A baby saiga has been saved and released to its native Homeland in Zavkhan soum of Uvs province.
Few days from now a little saiga, chased by a dog, ran into herder Namsrai’s ger, terrified but safe. Right away Namsrai informed local saiga conservationist Badamjav, who in turn, called soum veterinarians and wildlife biologists. Initial checkups showed that it is a 2022 offspring with six teeth and with no symptoms of infectious disease. Fortunately, he was in good condition except for the hoofs that had small cracks, probably because, in fear, he had to run over sharp stones and rocks to save his life.
Here’s what’s happened…
Few days from now a little saiga,
chased by a dog, ran into herder Namsrai’s ger, terrified but safe. Right away
Namsrai informed local saiga conservationist Badamjav, who in turn, called soum
veterinarians and wildlife biologists. Initial checkups showed that it is a
2022 offspring with six teeth and with no symptoms of infectious disease.
Fortunately, he was in good condition except for the hoofs that had small
cracks, probably because, in fear, he had to run over sharp stones and rocks to
save his life. To treat the hoofs, the vets put on healing ointment and
carefully looked after him feeding with fresh hay and fodder until the wounds
have healed.
Luckily, our little saiga has showed
a quick recovery and a group of experts from provincial Environmental agency
and WWF-Mongolia’s western region office decided to release this little one to
his natural habitat in Tataal Khev which a northern part of historical range of
Mongolian saiga located in Zavkhan soum of Uvs province. Hopping on his strong
feet a baby saiga is now happy to be Home! We have no doubt our saved saiga
will have a warm welcome back to his herd.
Over 70 years ago Tataal Khev, a
beautiful landscape with desert steppe ecosystem, used to be a home to
Mongolian saiga. Unfortunately, up until 2013 not a single head of this animal
was observed in this habitat. As of November 2022 thanks to favorable climatic
conditions and conservation interventions that WWF-Mongolia and its partners
have undertaken, the number of Mongolian saiga in Tataal Khev counted at 212
out of the total 13925 found across Mongolia.
Source:
WWF-Mongolia
