Mongolia's Saiga antelope population increases to more than 5,000 in Jan.

ULAN BATOR, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- The number of Mongolian Saiga antelope, a critically endangered species, rose to more than 5,000 in Mongolia in January, up from 3,800 in 2018, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)-Mongolia said on Monday.

"Less than 3,800 Mongolian Saiga antelopes existed in Mongolia at the end of 2018 due to such reasons as drought-related food shortage, infectious diseases and harsh weather conditions," the WWF-Mongolia said in a statement.

"According to a census conducted in January, the number reached 5,074," the statement added.

The increase is partially due to the fact that the habitats of the Saiga antelopes had a great summer in 2019, said WWF-Mongolia experts.