Saiga Antelope, Rhinoceros and TCM
Conservation Plan for One Species Causes Second to Become Endangered
Nov 6, 2007
In the early 1990s in an effort to reduce the losses of rhinoceros to poaching, conservation organizations advocated the use of Saiga antelope horn in Traditional Chinese Medicine. By 2001 the Saiga had joined the rhinoceros on the endangered species list. Many non-endangered alternatives were available but not promoted.
Saiga Antelope: Ancient Species
The Saiga antelope (Saiga tatarica) is an ancient species, with fossil records from the Pleistocene. Once ranging from the Northwest Territories of Canada through Siberia and the Caucasus, the population of this species has gone from about a million in the 1980s to less than 50,000 today.
Most of the surviving animals are of one subspecies (Saiga tatarica tatarica), which is now isolated in portions of the Russian Federation and Kazakhstan. The second subspecies (Saiga tatarica mongolica) present in only a couple of areas of Mongolia, accounts for less than 10,000 animals.
Antelope Herd Balance Upset
The cause of the crash is a sad testimony to man’s sometimes not so intelligent tinkering. Within ten years of Saiga horn was being sought as a replacement for rhinoceros horn, the illegal market in Saiga went through the roof. There were no Saiga antelope left in China so enterprising hunters and importers quickly began decimating herds in the former Soviet Union.
To be fair, the result was somewhat unexpected. The Saiga, an animal that is actually somewhere between antelope and wild sheep genetically, has historically rebounded from population crashes caused by severe weather including droughts and harsh winters.
But because only the males have horns, poachers took them in disproportionate numbers. Where a male normally maintained a harem of 30 to 40 females, now herds of up to 700 had only one male. This meant that many of the females were not impregnated and reproductive rates plummeted.
The species has a very short lifespan -10 years at the most - so losing even one reproductive season causes serious population impacts. In addition, the remaining males lost condition as they attempted to protect these greatly enlarged harems.
Two Endangered Species Instead of Just One
The use of rhinoceros horn in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is one of several issues that have lead to the species’ endangered status. Substituting another wild animal into this huge illegal trade was ill considered at best. Especially when there are more than 4000 substances listed in the TCM Materia Medica. Consultation with forward thinking TCM practitioners would have resulted in a list of at least 7 regularly used substitutes, none of which is endangered. Several of these substitutes are easily cultivated plant species.
In the rush to save endangered species, it is important to consider the situation from multiple angles or there is a risk of compounding the problem.
Additional Source:
Call, Elizabeth, Mending the Web of Life: Chinese Medicine & Species Conservation, 2006, Signature Book Printing, Inc.
Photo Credit: Xavier Bayod
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