Saiga antelopes have noses that almost encompass their entire face

It's really that big.

Noses come in all shapes and sizes. We either love them or hate them. And they play such a big role in our lives. So, it’s no surprise that nose jobs are one of the most common surgeries, whether it’s for aesthetics or to improve breathing.

While some of us may think our noses are big, it’s not as huge compared to the saiga antelope.

Like seriously, it’s not.

Look at those huge noses! Photo by Andrey Giljov on Wikimedia Commons

Once widespread, the saiga antelope is an herbivorous, small antelope species found in Mongolia, Russia, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. Saiga antelopes are about the size of a goat. Their coats change from a yellowish red in summer, to a pale greyish brown in winter. Males also have horns.

But what truly sets the saiga antelope apart are their noses.

Saiga antelopes have a bulbous nose that points downwards and drapes over their mouth. And yes, there’s a reason for having this weirdly huge as nose.

There’s a reason saiga antelopes have a big, floppy nose. Photo by Dasha Urvachova on Unsplash

Saiga antelopes live in tough, environmental conditions with drastically fluctuating temperatures. During summer, they use their enlarged noses to filter out dust and cool their blood. Meanwhile in winter, they use it to warm the cold air before it enters their lungs.

Of course, there’s other adaptations that allow them to keep warm in winter, including their thick winter coat that they shed when the weather warms up.

What’s also pretty funny though, is seeing them run with their enlarged noses. Their noses literally swing around when they’re running.

Despite their funny appearances, saiga antelopes are one of those few success stories when it comes to conservation.

Saiga antelopes plummeted during the fall of the Soviet Union in the early 1900s that led to an increased hunting for food and trade due to widespread unemployment and poverty in rural communities. Then the opening of trade borders with China exacerbated the problem. Demand for saiga antelope horns for traditional medicine led to increased poaching.

But it doesn’t end there - disease struck. Mass mortality events occurred when a fatal bacterial pathogen swept through the population and wiped out most of the saiga antelope within weeks.

With all of these events, the global saiga antelope population fell by 95%. And by 2001, the saiga antelope was listed as critically endangered by the IUCN.

These guys almost went extinct. Photo by Oleksandr Malyon on Wikimedia Commons

Thankfully through a combination of conservation efforts from habitat conservation, stronger anti-poaching measures and restricting harvest to sustainable levels, saiga antelope populations slowly rebounded. In 2023, the saiga antelope was reclassified from critically endangered, to near threatened.

And thank goodness they’re making a comeback. Can you imagine if we lost these guys? The earth is a better place with having weird-looking animals on the planet like the saiga antelope.