Saiga Trade and Demand

Trade has always been closely linked to saiga conservation. Demand for horn, illegal hunting, trafficking, consumer behaviour, and debates around sustainable use are all part of the same system, so SCA’s work has looked across the trade chain rather than treating these issues separately.

In range states, this has included practical enforcement support. In Uzbekistan, SCA trained customs and border personnel to identify saiga products and respond to wildlife trafficking. At the same time, SCA-supported research in Singapore examined saiga horn consumption and how behaviour-change approaches might reduce demand, while other collaborators began investigating online trade.

A major milestone came in 2020 with The Sustainable Use of Saiga Antelopes: Perspectives and Prospects, prepared by SCA for Germany’s Federal Agency for Nature Conservation and CMS. The report brought together ecological, social, management, and trade evidence and set out the conditions that would need to be met before any sustainable use could be considered.

From 2022, SCA took a more integrated approach through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service-supported Building a Collaborative Foundation for Evidence-Based Saiga Antelope Conservation. The programme connected projects working across the trade and conservation system, supported knowledge exchange, identified evidence gaps, and strengthened links between range and consumer countries. It was paused in January 2025 before its planned completion, and SCA has since been working to bring the programme to an orderly close while retaining the evidence and relationships developed through it.

With thanks to our funders
This work has been supported through different phases by the Bundesamt für Naturschutz, the Convention on Migratory Species, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Wildlife Conservation Network, Cooper Fund, and other supporters of SCA’s research, policy, and conservation work.

Project partners
This work has involved the Convention on Migratory Species, CITES, wildlife-trade specialists, range-state governments and enforcement agencies, researchers in consumer and range countries, universities, and members of the wider international saiga conservation community.