Pronghorn are the fastest land animal in the Western Hemisphere and undertake the longest terrestrial migration in the contiguous US, but wildlife-unfriendly fencing increasingly blocks ancient corridors.
Pronghorn that encounter impassable fencing during migration face a choice between turning back from critical seasonal habitat or attempting fence crossing in ways that cause injury. Barbed wire bottom strands entangle and lacerate pronghorn legs and bodies; animals that cannot free themselves die from wounds, dehydration, or predation. Fences that block migration force pronghorn to either remain in overgrazed winter range or attempt dangerous alternatives. Drought compounds this stress by reducing forage quality in both winter and summer range. Fencing modifications that raise the bottom wire to allow crawling passage cost little relative to the welfare and population benefits they provide. Collaborations between ranchers, wildlife agencies, and conservation organizations to retrofit existing fences are one of the most cost-effective wildlife welfare interventions available in the American West.