Saiga tatarica population to be estimated by aviation

WKT

Estimation of saigas’ population (Betpakdala, Ural, Ust-Yurt populations) by means of aviation started in Kazakhstan on April 4 reports bnews.kz. The action is conducted by Okhotzooprom, the subdivision of the Committee on Forestry and Hunting under the RoK Ministry of Environmental Protection, reads the report of the Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP).  

“Estimation of saiga population by means of aviation will be conducted in accordance with the  corresponding methodical instructions prepared by the Institute of Zoology. During the campaign we will continue our activities on increased accuracy of estimation with the use of electronic technical means of estimation and analysis”, reads the report.

For this purposes the experts will use aviation and mobile GPS navigators, survey technologies for mapping, processing and analysis of data. Data processing will be provided by the staff of the Institute of Zoology and the Fauna Scientific Research Institute.

The public “Association for Preservation of Biological Diversity of Kazakhstan” will also participate in the activities.

As it was informed by MEP, the 2012 results of estimation showed that the population of saiga in total made 137 500 heads. The increase of saiga polulation was over 34% compared to 2011 figures.

Saigas, habituating in Kazakhstan, makes about 90% of the world population of these animals