SAIGA

(Saiga tatarica), medium-sized hoofed mammal, family Bovidae (order Artiodactyla), that lives in herds in treeless steppe country. Once common from Poland to western Mongolia, it was greatly reduced by hunting and no longer exists in Eastern Europe. It was given complete protection by the Russian government in 1919 and since then has increased in numbers in Siberia. The most outstanding feature of the saiga is its swollen snout with downward-directed nostrils. The snout may serve to warm and moisten inhaled air, or it may be related to the animal's keen sense of smell. The adult saiga stands about 76 cm (30 inches) at the shoulder. Its coat is short and pale brown in summer, thick and whitish in winter. The male bears ridged, amber-yellow horns that are somewhat lyre shaped. These horns were highly valued in Chinese medicine and were the main reason the saiga was so widely hunted.