Canadian Antelope: Saiga and Pronghorns

The term antelope is a classic example of what is called in biology a "wastebasket taxon". This means that there is no one group of animals that is known taxonomically as an antelope. Elands, gazelles, blackbucks, nilgai, saiga, impala, and pronghorns are all referred to as antelope but in reality belong to several different taxons and are not all closely related. Pronghorns are hardly related at all, having more in common phylogenetically to giraffes. Antelope is really just a term people use for any cloven-hoofed animal that is not a pig, deer, cow, sheep, goat, or giraffe. 

Pronghorn antelope (Antilocapra americana) are, and have been, found in the prairies of southern Alberta and Saskatchewan. They are deer-sized ungulates and are the second fastest land animal in the world after the cheetah. There are several subspecies but only one, the Oregon pronghorn, is found in Canada. Pronghorns are the only surviving members of the Antilocapridae family which, until the end of the Pleistocene, had three other known living members, including one that would have coexisted with the modern pronghorn on the Canadian plains, the four-horned pronghorn (Tetrameryx schuleri). Little is known about Tetrameryx, other than that it's prongs each split into two long horns, and that it was slightly larger than Antilocapra. It would presumably have been a grazer like living pronghorns and have been similarly fast. If it was deemed necessary to replace Tetrameryx, there is one known animal similar in size, diet, speed, and climatic adaptation, and that is the Tibetan antelope (Panthalops hodgsonii).  The living pronghorn however, is probably sufficient to fill the ecological role left by the four-horned pronghorn. 

Saiga antelope (Saiga tatarica) were also, at one point, found in Canada. Fossils have been found in the Yukon and the NWT. Saiga still exist and are found in Russia, Kazakhstan, and Mongolia. They are considered critically endangered due to threats from poachers, diseases from domestic livestock, and habitat loss. Canada could offer a new start for saiga, with vast amounts of land and food and minimal poaching. They are adapted to predation from wolves already, and will breed fast if given the opportunity. Either or both of the saiga subspecies (Russian and Mongolian) would be adequate for introduction. However, it might be logical to start a founder herd containing members of both in order to increase genetic diversity, making them more susceptible to natural selection and less vulnerable to pestilence. Saiga have many adaptations making them suitable to Canadian ecosystems, including noses that filter dust and warm the air they inhale, and the ability to eat plants that are poisonous or indigestible to other herbivores.  

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Pronghorn - http://bwanabubba.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/lope-group-001.jpg
saiga- http://www.animalspot.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Saiga-Antelope-Pictures.jpg
tibetan antelope - http://www.cctv-america.com/wp-content/flagallery/chinese-wildlife-photographer-xi-zhinong/webview/24-4.jpg