saiga

American  

[sahy-guh] / ˈsaɪ gə /

noun

1. a goatlike antelope, Saiga tatarica, of western Asia and eastern Russia, having a greatly enlarged muzzle.

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saiga British  

/ ˈsaɪɡə /

noun

1. either of two antelopes, Saiga tatarica or S. mongolica, of the plains of central Asia, having an enlarged slightly elongated nose

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Etymology

Origin of saiga

1795–1805; (< New Latin ) < Russian saĭgá ( k ) < Turkic; compare Chagatai sayğak

Example Sentences

“The near threatened category is right for the saiga, because we know that at any time, we could just get large numbers of them dropping dead again,” says Milner-Gulland.

From National Geographic • Dec. 14, 2023

Fencing along the border between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan also put a barrier in the middle of the saiga’s migratory route, while infrastructure development cut into saiga habitat.

From National Geographic • Dec. 14, 2023

Customs agents also improved detection of saiga products leaving the country as part of the illicit wildlife trade.

From National Geographic • Dec. 14, 2023

The International Union for Conservation of Nature classes the saiga among five critically endangered antelope species.

From BBC • Jul. 3, 2021

Saic points to saiga, which, according to Dupré de St. Maur, is in the Salic laws the equivalent of a denier or the twelfth part of a sol.

From The Travels of Marco Polo — Volume 1 by Yule, Henry