Traditional Chinese medicine practitioners and nature conservationists came together last week to exchange views and discuss ways to preserve the Saiga antelope.

The Saiga, with its distinct long nose, roams the steppes and deserts of Kazakhstan, Mongolia, and Russia. But the short, pointed horn of the male, a major ingredient in certain TCM concoctions, makes it a prize target.

China, once home to the creature, has not seen any in the wild since 1960s.

And in the last decade, their numbers worldwide have witnessed a catastrophic fall of more than 95 per cent, according to Kang Aili, programme officer of the Wildlife Conservation Society.

In 2002, the Saiga was listed as Critically Endangered by the World Conservation Union (IUCN) and included on Appendix II of the Convention of Migratory Species.

During the forum, participants from both TCM and nature conservation sectors agreed on the need to work together to help restore the decimated wild population of Saiga, not only for ecological reasons, but also for the sustainable development of a fundamental area of TCM.

"We should start to control the use of Saiga horns in TCM medicines. The non-sustainable use will only make it disappear in the dictionary of Chinese herbs one day," said Zhang Fakui, chairman of the China TCM Association.

In recent years, the State Food and Drug Administration approved a batch of new TCM prescriptions to treat hypertension and colds, which use Saiga horn as their major ingredients.

"Using Saiga horn to treat such common diseases will undoubtedly further increase its demand and put a strain on the already critically endangered resources," said Professor Zhou Chaofan, a research fellow with the Institute of Basic Theory at Chinese Academy of TCM.

Saiga horn should only be used to treat some life-threatening acute diseases, he suggested. And other uses should be strictly controlled.

As a conservationist, Kang Aili is a strong advocate of the use of non-endangered resources and synthetic alternatives in place of endangered wildlife. This, he asserts, is essential to address the current crisis.

Synthetic alternatives for a number of compounds once only sourced from wild animals have proven successful.

"Nowadays the curative effects of synthetic bezoar and musk are already quite similar to their natural counterparts. This has opened a new trail for work to find alternatives for Saiga horn," Zhou said.

TCM is not the main culprit for the shocking drop in wild Saiga numbers outside China.

The primary reason for the reduction in the Saiga antelope population is over-hunting by poor rural farmers needing to feed their families in Central Asia.

Poachers who shoot the males for their horns, which sell for US$100 per kilo, account for the much of the rest. In recent years, the Chinese media have reported Chinese customs have smashed 15 cases of Saiga horn smuggling, involving tons of horn at a time, said Kang.

The practice of adding ground antelope horn into TCM prescriptions can be traced back 2,000 years.

Of all antelope horn, that from the Saiga has long been considered the most efficacious.

Owing to its important position in TCM, experts in the field have been greatly alarmed at news the Saiga is on the brink of extinction.

As far as finding an alternative or a synthetic compound is concerned, TCM specialists have their worries.

"Many TCM preparations have been in use for centuries and the curative effect would be unreliable if an important ingredient was changed," argued Hu Shilin, a research fellow from the TCM research institute under Chinese Academy of TCM.

In 2001, researchers found that goat horn could be used as an alternative to Saiga horn in some prescriptions.

Introducing Saiga antelope from Kazakhstan and Russia to establish farms to breed the animal for medicinal supplies is another alternative to alleviate exploitation of what remains of the wild population.

But, warns Wang Song, senior research fellow at the Institute of Zoology at the Chinese Academy of Science: "The TCM industry should not simply expect that increased conservation efforts will recover the Saiga population from the decimation of the past decade."

(China Daily 05/31/2005 page14)