Ministry of Ecology, Geology and Natural Resources made the decision to control the number of endangered Saiga antelopes in the Ural region by shooting 10% of 800,000 heads, Vlast.kz reports.
At the start of June, the ministry announced that it was considering lifting the ban on hunting the endangered saiga antelopes after their population reached 1.3 million, exceeding the initial estimate.
“There is enough justification for this decision. Scientists say that there is a need to regulate the number of saigas. If now the Ural population has a little more than 800,000 heads, then about 10% must be regulated, that is, it is 80,000 heads,” said the head of the Ministry of Ecology Serikkali Brekeshev.
The minister stressed that the number of saigas must be within a certain range. Otherwise, the herds are going to spill over to other territories.
"Regulation is necessary so that there is no conflict with farm animals. Today, in Western Kazakhstan, Saigas enter not only pasture lands, but also sown areas,” Serikkali Brekeshev noted.
Earlier, farmers in Western Kazakhstan reported damage to pastures due to the increasing number of saigas. In addition, according to Brekeshev, the Ministry of Ecology plans to capture up to 500 Saigas for scientific research starting from October 1.