Global News - July 2008

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Migration bottlenecks 'still threatening rare Mongolian antelopes'

Wed 30 July 2008 14:00 UK — Asia,Ungulates

A report has warned that natural and man-made barriers are affecting the migration patterns of endangered antelopes in western Mongolia.

The research, which was published in the online journal PLoS One, looked at whether changes to migration patterns could be linked to the decline in the number of saiga in Mongolia.

According to the researchers, the number of saiga has declined by 95 per cent in the last two decades.

Using global positioning system collars, the team were able to watch migration patterns and identify three key bottlenecks along the migratory corridor. While one of these was natural, the others were due to human actions.

As a result, the scientists said that the country's saiga will increasingly find their migration difficult and dangerous as the region's human population increases in size and affluence.

One of the researchers, Joel Berger, said that efforts to expand the Sharga Nature Reserve to include migratory corridor were welcome.

However, he added: "Ultimately … it's only through dialogue with vested interests that recommendations to reduce threats can be implemented.

"Protecting corridors will necessitate addressing difficult issues, but baseline data provide opportunities to engage in these discussions before situations become dire."

Earlier this year, a separate report from Dr Berger suggested that a single 3.5-mile wide bottleneck was putting the saiga in danger of extinction.

Saiga are currently listed as critically endangered by the IUCN.

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