The Centre for Wild Animals of Kalmykia in the Russian Federation, a captive breeding center for Saiga Antelopes, has lost almost its entire stock of animals due to an unidentified disease, according to the Secretariat of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS).
From a captive population of more than 90 animals, only four individuals remain, including just one adult male.
A 2014 drought along with supplementary feeding may have contributed to the loss.
April 2015: The Centre for Wild Animals of Kalmykia in the Russian Federation, a captive breeding center for Saiga Antelopes, has lost almost its entire stock of animals due to an unidentified disease, according to the Secretariat of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS). From a captive population of more than 90 animals, only four individuals remain, including just one adult male. A 2014 drought along with supplementary feeding may have contributed to the loss.
The Centre’s breeding program has played an important role in the implementation of the CMS Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Saiga Antelopes, the wild populations of which are heavily poached. Pending funding, a Third Meeting of Signatories of the MoU is tentatively scheduled for autumn 2015 to discuss the many aspects of Saiga conservation, review progress and set priorities for 2016-2020.
The CMS has also reported on a conservation project utilizing the power of participatory planning to enable the protection of Dalmatian Pelican habitat in Montenegro. With support from the CMS Small Grant Programme and led by the French NGO, Noé Conservation, the project stakeholders have implemented a conservation zone around a key Dalmatian Pelican nesting area on the shores of the Skadar Lake in Southern Montenegro. A new zoning plan has been adopted to protect key nesting sites while minimizing impacts to fishing activities on the lake.
Finally, in Mali, 80 community representatives and wildlife officials met from 3-6 April, 2015 to discuss the implementation of the CMS West African Elephant MoU, including the formal establishment of a new transboundary law enforcement mechanism at the village level. Priority actions agreed included the reduction of human-elephant conflict, the strengthened mobilization of all sectors of society and a follow-up community workshop in Burkina Faso. The meeting built on a project that trained 157 young people from eleven villages to establish a vigilance network on both sides of the Malian – Burkinabé border in order to stop elephant poaching. This transborder network is now part of a larger Malian network of around 800 young men covering 72 settlements throughout 32,000 km2 of the elephants’ range. This project is coordinated by the WILD Foundation in Mali, with funding from Monaco. [CMS Saiga news] [CMS Dalmatian Pelican news] [CMS Elephant News]