Saiga Antelope

Scientists working in Mongolia's windswept Gobi Desert recently fitted high-tech GPS collars on eight saiga antelope in an effort to help protect one of Asia's most bizarre-looking and endangered large mammals.

Standing just under two feet at the shoulder and weighing about 50 pounds, the most striking feature of the saiga is its large nose, or proboscis, similar to a tapir.  The function of this unusual nose is not clear, but it may serve to warm or filter air during Mongolia's frigid winters and notorious dust storms.

Today saiga numbers have plummeted by 95 percent from an estimated one million animals just 15 years ago, due to poaching for Chinese medicines and competition with livestock.  In an effort to safeguard remaining populations, the Wildlife Conservation Society, along with the Mongolian Academy of Sciences and support from the National Geographic Society, have embarked on this study to better understand the needs of these unusual ungulates and how best to protect them.

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--LiveScience Staff

Credit: Wildlife Conservation Society