My wife brought home a picture of the strangest looking antelope head. My first impression was that this was some kind of jackelope b.s. (a piece of composite taxidermy found in souvenir shops of the American West). Seeing a picture of this animal, I had no idea how I would ever find out what it was (my wife took the picture in a Chinese herb shop in Malaysia). Well, I stumbled across a picture while looking up something else in the encyclopedia. Whether or not these things are good to eat, the head would make a great conversation piece. It is the strangest looking mammal I've ever seen.

"Saiga antelope have been ruthlessly hunted for their horns, which are believed to be aphrodisiacs."
"Status: As a species, the saiga is classified as vulnerable by the IUCN (1996). S. t. tatarica is also classified as vulnerable, while S. t. mongolica is considered endangered."
from:
http://www.ultimateungulate.com/saiga.html

I believe Russia has these critters too. Seems like I saw on a nature show that these antelope used to form huge herds kinda like our bison.

Judging by his condition in the photo I don;t think I'd buy off on that aphrod....story....he is just not all that sexy!

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Ray Atkinson

ray@atkinsonhunting.com
atkinsonhunting.com