Saiga Antelope
Saiga Antelope
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サイガ | |||
Character Data | |||
Romaji | saiga
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Debut | Kemono Friends (2015 Game) | ||
Animal Data | |||
Scientific Name | Saiga tatarica
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Distribution | Kalmykia, Kazakhstan and Mongolia
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Diet | Herbivore
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Avg. Lifespan | ?
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Read More | Saiga Antelope
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Conservation | ![]() | ||
Saiga Antelope | Nexon Game |
Saiga Antelope is a type of Friend that first appeared in the original Kemono Friends mobile game.
Appearance
Saiga Antelope has black eyes, with long hair that is honey blonde at the top and gray at the bottom, that seems to be gathered at the back of her head in a messy style, while having two blonde curled bangs (resembling the snout of the real animal) covering her right eye. As other Friends, she has two strings of hair projected upwards to represent her antlers, a pair of small animal ears and a very small tail. She wields a brown lance with both sides of it presenting ring-like ridges. She wears a white shirt under a light brown v-neck vest with a big white spot on her belly, and an orange bow tie. For her lower half, she small ripped tawny shorts, thigh highs following the same color pattern as her shirt and a pair of small platform shoes that are light brown at the top and dark brown at the bottom.
Series Appearances
Media | Role | |
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2015 | Nexon Game | ↪ Minor character, obtainable |
In Real Life
Saiga antelopes are found in three areas of central Asia with different populations: Russia (Kalmykia), Kazakhstan and Mongolia. They inhabit open dry steppes and semi-arid deserts, in flat areas with low-growing vegetation. Saiga antelopes have a very distinct feature, their large head with a huge mobile nose that hangs over its mouth, adapted to live in their harsh environment. They have a pair of long, waxy colored horns, long, thin legs, a body that resembles that of a sheep, and a short yellowish coat that becomes thicker and longer in winter.
Saiga antelopes are herbivores, being mostly active during the day where they spend much of their time grazing on various species of grass, herbs and shrubs. They occasionally migrate as a group, forming large herds consisting of 30-40 individuals to escape snowstorms and droughts.
During mating season, adult males gather a group of 5-15 females in harems which they defend aggressively from rival males. The intense fighting and very little feeding during this time results in high mortality for the males; up to 90% may perish due to exhaustion.
Trivia
- Climate change and habitat loss are a severe combined threat to saiga antelope, as they are a highly migratory species. Particularly bad or unusual weather, and the alteration of land by humans, can lead to flooding, water shortages, starvation, and disease outbreaks that can take serious tolls on saiga antelope populations.
- While mass die-offs of saiga antelope are not unusual, as is the case for many ungulate species, it has been found in recent years that the effects of climate change on the saiga antelope's habitat have been attributed to alarmingly large die-offs caused by zoonotic illnesses enabled by shifts in temperature and humidity.
- Several die-offs were reported throughout the 1980s, and between 2010 and 2014, a mass die-off of saiga antelope occurred annually. These die-offs are not attributed to disease, but rather to issues such as drownings caused by floods.
- In 2015, around 200,000 saiga antelope suddenly died in Kazakhstan. Scientists believe that the deaths were a result of Pasteurella multocidaa, a bacteria found naturally in the antelope's bodies, undergoing changes consequent of unseasonably hot and humid weather which led them to enter the animals' bloodstreams and become a fatal septic infection.
- In 2016, ovine rinderpest, also known as goat plague, claimed a large number of saiga antelope in Mongolia.
References
http://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Saiga_tatarica/
http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/19832/0
http://www.edgeofexistence.org/mammals/species_info.php?id=62