Doug Collee, age 11, of Niagara Falls, Ont., Canada, for his question:
What sort of animal is the saiga?
The saiga is a cold country cousin of the African antelopes. He somewhat resembles the graceful impala except for one fantastic feature. He seems to be wearing either a horsy nose bag or an enormous nose muff.
Scientists all agree that the saiga is an antelope. But they are not sure whether to classify him with the sheep goat antelopes or with the gazelle antelopes. However, only the saiga looks like he decided to grow himself an elephant type trunk, changed his mind and settled for a large cozy muff to keep his nose warm.
Herds of his kinfolk roam the bleak Gobi Desert and the steppe lands of southeast Russia. Here the seasonal climate ranges from coolish to downright cold. Possibly the useful nose muff warms the chilly air and filters out the blowing dust
Actually it is two hollow sacs formed by oversize nostrils. The enormous bulge begins under the eyes and extends over the upper lip.
The average saiga of the Russian steppe lands stands about 32 inches at shoulder level and weighs 100 pounds. The male wears a pair of skinny amber tinted horns. He changes his woolly coat with the seasons from honey color to winter white. Also with the seasons he migrates with a herd of his kinfolk, seeking fresh pastures in his high, dry, treeless territory.
The grazing herd travels at a leisurely pace. But when startled they race long distances at 50 m.p.h. Now and then, a curious member of the herd takes a flying leap, just to take a look around.
Saiga family life is tuned to the seasonal migrations. In late fall, small groups of males and separate groups of females migrate southward. In December they gather in mixed herds of perhaps 100,000. This is the frantic mating season, when rival males strive to gather themselves families of 30 or so females.
Soon the males depart, either along or in small groups, and the females form maternity groups. All migrate northward to enjoy the springtime pastures. In April, most of the females give birth to twins. A few bear singles and a few bear triplets. For the first few days, the helpless lambs shiver on the cold ground at the mercy of cold weather, wolves and eagles. Sad to say, almost half of them perish during their first year. However, the saiga story ends on a happy note. For ages these antelopes were hunted for their meat, skins and dainty horns. In 1930, their numbers were reduced to a few thousand. Then Russia passed strict conservation laws to protect them. The saigas were saved fron extinction. They thrived so successfully that their present numbers are estimated to be around 2 million.