Tracking what's alive on Earth and what affects it.
Humans, now
Never as few as 1,000
Saiga antelope
about2,833,600
Estimate, no range
May 2024
Saiga tatarica
Kazakhstan (Ural, Betpak-Dala and Ustyurt populations); smaller populations in Russia and Mongolia not included
Counted May 2024, by Kazakhstan's Okhotzooprom with ACBK scientists, published by the Altyn Dala Conservation Initiative.

Kazakhstan's saiga antelope number about 2,833,600, an estimate with no range, counted May 2024 by Okhotzooprom with ACBK scientists and published by the Altyn Dala Conservation Initiative.
Kazakhstan's saiga are up since the last count. The Altyn Dala Conservation Initiative formed to keep them from disappearing.
How it was counted
The figure counts animals and covers Kazakhstan only, across the Ural, Betpak-Dala and Ustyurt populations. Okhotzooprom with ACBK scientists give no range, so it reads as about 2,833,600 rather than an exact total.
An estimate published with no range, so read it as about 2,833,600 animals in Kazakhstan rather than exactly that many.
What moves it
Okhotzooprom with ACBK scientists report the number as up since the last count, and the Altyn Dala Conservation Initiative credits its own work for the rise from an earlier low.
Who is helping
The Altyn Dala Conservation Initiative, a partnership of national and international conservation bodies, formed to protect the Altyn Dala steppe and keep the saiga from dying out, and it credits its own work with bringing saiga numbers up from an earlier low.
The next count
The count is annual (spring helicopter census). No date for the next count is known as of 12 November 2026.
Sources
- Okhotzooprom (Committee for Forestry and Wildlife, Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of Kazakhstan) with ACBK scientists, published by the Altyn Dala Conservation Initiative Last checked 12 November 2026.
- Altyn Dala Conservation Initiative Last checked 12 November 2026.
What changed
- 12 November 2026 Added to Live Species, never as few as 1,000, shown above the wall: About 2,833,600 (Estimate, no range, May 2024).
Next on the wall

The letter
The letter comes once a month, on the first Thursday. It gives what changed on Live Species, one animal up close and the humans figure for contrast.