FASTEST ANIMALS and WYOMING ICON
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TAKE A CLOSE-UP LOOK AT ONE OF THE WORLD’S FASTEST ANIMALS and WYOMING ICON Tom Reichner at shutterstock.com 4 BARNYARDS & BACKYARDS Abby Perry form of fat for demanding times like he pronghorn is a Wyoming the end of gestation and lactation. icon. Other animals are considered in- T They use their long hair to com- Its image appears on business come breeders. They use energy as municate danger to other members signs, public art, and even agency they acquire it, and have much less of the herd. They raise the hair on emblems, and hearing Wyomingites energy stored; some do not store their rump as a warning of danger, a brag there are more pronghorn in energy at all. characteristic that has, perhaps, con- Wyoming than people is not uncom- Pronghorn are in-between capital tributed to their survival. Pronghorn mon. We love that over half of the and income breeders, but likely fall are the last remaining species of their worldwide pronghorn population is more on the income breeder side of family, Antilocpridae, and are most within the state. the spectrum. They have very few closely related to giraffes. Pronghorn populations no longer fat stores, which is interesting con- Pronghorn horns have branches exceed the population of Wyoming. sidering some of their reproductive and have a bony core like a true horn, Numbers have decreased significant- characteristics. but they also have a branching horn ly over the last couple of decades and Pronghorn invest more highly in sheath that is shed every year like an are close to 400,000. There are now reproduction than any other ungulate. antler. Male pronghorn are adorned a third more people in the state than The gestational period for pronghorn with full-sized horns, but a significant pronghorn antelope. About the Pronghorn People know they are fast and see well, but how fast and how well? Pronghorn can detect movement up to 4 miles away. The human equiva- lent to a pronghorn’s amazing eye- sight is looking through an 8-power pair of binoculars. Exceptional eyesight and the abil- Pictureguy at shutterstock.com ity to spot predators from miles away portion of the female population also is longer than other ungulates of simi- is their first line of defense. There has horns. However, female horns lar size, approximately 250 days. The are not a lot of places to hide on the have more of the true horn character- pronghorn twinning rate is nearly 100 wide-open prairie, and many pairs istics, as they do not usually branch, percent, and those twins account for of eyes are better than one, which is and do not typically grow past their almost 16 percent of the adult female one of the many benefits of strong ears. pronghorn’s body weight. That is like herding instincts. an average-size woman giving birth to A pronghorn can run up to 60 Energy Storage Survival 12-pound twins. Pronghorn fawns, on miles per hour, which makes them Pronghorn, although still con- average, gain about a half pound per the second-fastest land animal in the sidered ungulates, vary greatly from day. By the fall, telling the difference world (cheetah – 61 mph). Although other ungulates in how they use between fawns and adult pronghorn second to the cheetah, the pronghorn and store energy. Most animals fall can be difficult, while it is much easi- can sustain its speed for much longer. into two different categories of en- er to distinguish fawns from adults in While trying to evade predators, they ergy storage and breeding strategy. other ungulate species. run, and when pronghorn must resort There are capital breeders, like most to their last line of defense, they run ungulates, who store energy in the together as a herd. WINTER 2017 5 Contend with Drought, Fierce moosehenderson at shutterstock.com Winters Having sufficient forage is crucial to survival. This makes pronghorn very susceptible to drought. To con- tend with drought, pronghorn some- times change their diet to include more shrubs than forbs. If they can- not consume enough forage, their body condition deteriorates, which can result in death or a significant decrease in fawning rates. Helping the Pronghorn There are a few options to in- crease forage availability for prong- horn during drought. Pronghorn prefer to go under fences rather than over. Wildlife friendly fencing is a common management strategy that can allow pronghorn to move to higher-quality foraging areas in times of drought. migration corridor, which helps pro- Other strategies include reducing tect the pronghorn and other animals Tens of millions of stocking rates for domestic animals that also use this route to migrate. pronghorn once roamed that compete directly with prong- In the fall of 2012, pronghorn immedi- North America. Numbers ately took to the completed Wyoming horn, building an overpass on their dropped to about migration route to help mitigate urban Department of Transportation wild- effects, and supplemental feeding. life overpass on Highway 191 west 13,000 worldwide. Most management strategies are of Pinedale and continue to use With only around 2,000 costly, and do not guarantee survival. it. The overpass eliminated a deadly left in Wyoming by crossing from their ancient course. Helping Hand from Man 1906, the pronghorn Because pronghorn are a truly was going the way of Pronghorn often manage the unique Wyoming icon, they con- seasonal forage availability problem tinue to be the subject of many the bison. An eleventh- in a different way -- they move. Some on-going research projects, hoping hour commitment pronghorn in Wyoming migrate ap- to aid in their success in the state of to hunting regulation proximately 170 miles from the Upper Wyoming. and management reversed Green River Basin to Grand Teton National Park. The migration route Thanks to Adele Reinking, graduate its fate. By 1984, the is the longest in the lower 48 by any research assistant in the Department pronghorn population land animal. The route crosses four of Ecosystem Science and in Wyoming peaked at major rivers, private property, pub- Management, for the inspiration 600,000. Today, that to take a closer look at one of our lic land, and urban areas with lots of number is cars. The migration route also be- speediest residents. came the first federally designated around 400,000. Speedy, swift, quick, nimble, tenacious, tough. Abby Perry can provide all the adjectives to describe pronghorn on Wyoming’s vast landscape. The University of Wyoming Extension educator serves southeast Wyoming and can be reached at (307) 328-2642 or [email protected]. 6 BARNYARDS & BACKYARDS.