Kazakhstan’s Saiga Population Reaches Record 4 Million

Kazakhstan’s First Deputy Prime Minister, Roman Sklyar, chaired a meeting dedicated to the sustainable management of the saiga antelope population, according to the Kazakh Government’s press service.

The meeting reviewed the results of actions taken for sustainable population management, The Caspian Post reports, citing Kazakh media.

Reports were presented by the Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources, Yerlan Nyssanbayev, and representatives of other government authorities.

According to the Ministry, the saiga population in Kazakhstan has reached a record level of 4 million individuals and is projected to reach approximately 5 million following the 2026 calving season.

Given this rapid growth, authorized bodies implemented sustainable population management measures. The actions were based on biological findings from the Institute of Zoology to prevent damage to agriculture and maintain ecosystem balance.

Nearly 196,000 saiga antelopes were culled between July 1 and November 30 of this year, with the carcasses transferred to domestic meat processing plants. These operations were conducted in strict accordance with scientific recommendations.

Special attention was paid to the accounting and storage of derivatives (horns). All saiga horns have been cataloged, marked, and are stored at Okhotzooprom, a subsidiary organization of the Ministry, under high security and within specialized infrastructure.

The meeting also addressed digital marking and international regulation. A project to mark saiga horns is being implemented in cooperation with Kazakhtelecom JSC to ensure full traceability and legal turnover. This system received support at the CITES International Conference and is considered the foundation for the phased lifting of restrictions on the export of saiga derivatives of Kazakhstan's origin.

As a follow-up to the meeting, Roman Sklyar instructed the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources and other relevant bodies to prepare measures for the sustainable management of the saiga population for 2026, and to finalize the regulatory framework for the marking and turnover of derivatives, taking into account CITES decisions.

As previously stated, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan agreed to boost efforts to protect the saiga, a rare species of the Central Asian steppe.