Designing Robust Ranger Based Monitoring Strategies for the Saiga Antelope

2 This investigation sought to develop robust ranger based monitoring strategies for the North-west pre-Caspian population of the saiga antelope, Saiga tatarica, in two nature reserves created for its conservation. The saiga is a critically endangered species which suffered a 90 % population decline due to poaching for horns to be used in traditional Chinese medicine and for its meat. Monitoring of this species is highly important as despite extensive conservation efforts, poaching is still occurring. The effect of poaching and the conservation work on the status of the species is vital information for effective future conservation planning. A GIS map was created of each reserve showing the location of vehicle tracks. It was found that there is a significant positive relationship between track density and saiga sightings in the current monitoring system suggesting this may be a significant source of bias. Two experiments into the accuracy of the rangers ’ count estimates were conducted. A comparison of ranger estimates against photographs taken of saiga herds found the ranger