
Kinder® and WWF-Russia launch a project to conserve the goitered gazelle in Kazakhstan
Ferrero Kazakhstan LLP with Kinder® brand and the World Wildlife Fund told about a joint project to save the goitered gazelles in Kazakhstan.
Studies in the region revealed that the goitered gazelle population has dropped significantly over the past decade due to two main reasons: illegal hunting and lack of access to drinking fresh water.
Since Soviet times, wells used for livestock. However, they have not been functioning for the past 25 years, although they have water at a depth of 25-30 meters. Lack of water, the second most important factor after poaching, limits the successful growth of the goitered gazelle population in the Saryesik-Atyrau desert of Balkhash area.
According to the latest data, there are at least the 110 goitered gazelles in these places on almost 700,000 hectares. If favorable conditions are created - the cessation of poaching and the availability of accessible watering holes - tens of thousands of these animals can live in this territory.
In June 2020, on the basis of a study, 10 wells were identified, the operation of which will contribute to the maintenance and increase of the goitered gazelle population. Destroyed (cracked or fallen) watering holes should be repaired. In the hot season (April-October), it is planned to provide a regular detour on a specially designated "Ile-Balkhash" reserve motor transport with a pump (once a week) of each of the wells and a supply of water to the reservoir (where it is preserved) or directly to the wells. The average length of one trip is about 500 km. Monitoring of the population will be carried out with the help of installed camera traps in the places of organized watering places.
Regulation of the places where the goitered gazelles are concentrated by watering holes will provide additional safety for them by ensuring protection from the "Ile-Balkhash" reserve.
It's worth noting that the conservation and growth of the goitered gazelle population has a very positive effect on the state of the desert plant complexes: these light animals, breaking the moss cover with their sharp hooves, promote the germination of herbaceous plant seeds, which creates favorable living conditions for a whole complex of desert animal and plant species.
Reference. The goitered gazelles are one of a variety of their species found in the Arabian Peninsula throughout the Middle East and Asia, including Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, and China. They are classified as vulnerable species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. These gazelles usually occupy arid desert and desert-steppe habitats and are found in mixed sex groups. The goitered gazelle moves seasonally (it roams, but doesn't migrate) and can cover up to 30 km per day in winter; in summer the distance is much shorter. The main requirements of the habitat are the availability of water and fine snow cover in winter.