Bayarbaatar Buuveibaatar, known as Buuvei, completed his Undergraduate and Master's degrees at the National University of Mongolia, and currently works as a wildlife biologist at the Institute of Biology, Mongolian Academy of Sciences, where he has been since 2004. Here Buuvei has studied a variety of Mongolian species, including the Mongolian gazelle (Procapra gutturosa), Siberian marmot (Marmota sibirica) and saiga antelope (Saiga tatarica).

Mongolian saiga populations have declined by more than 85% since the 1990s as a result of poaching and pasture degradation, among other things. One suspected further threat to saiga is predation of young by domestic dogs, however data on this factor is lacking. During his EDGE Fellowship Buuvei aims to fill this data-gap by evaluating the potential effects of domestic dogs to saiga in Mongolia.

Buuvei aims to understand the level of rick posed by domestic dogs to saiga, to contribute towards the species' conservation efforts. Specifically, Buuvei will carry out herder interviews, study spatial patterns of birth sites, and investigate the relationship between recruitment of calves and dog presence to:

1. Assess perceptions and beliefs by dog owners in the saiga range;
2. Evaluate effect of dogs on spatial pattern of the birth site;
3. Determine interaction between free-roaming dog and saiga.