Pronghorn: North America's Speed Champion and Fence Victim

Pronghorns are North America's fastest land animal, capable of sustained speeds exceeding 80 km/h. Yet their welfare is critically threatened not by predators but by the thousands of kilometres of fencing that fragment their ancient migration routes.

Key Facts

Pronghorns (Antilocapra americana) are the second fastest land animal globally after the cheetah
They can sustain speeds of 80 km/h for several kilometres — an adaptation to now-extinct Pleistocene predators
Pronghorn populations once numbered 35 million across the American West; they now stand at approximately 700,000
Unlike deer, pronghorns cannot easily jump over fences — they prefer to crawl under, requiring passable lower strands
The Path of the Pronghorn in Wyoming is one of North America's longest remaining land mammal migrations — 240 km one way
An estimated 900 million fencing posts cross the American West, blocking movement across vast landscapes
Fencing creates bottlenecks where pronghorns become trapped during migration, sometimes dying of starvation or stress
Simple fence modifications — raising the lowest wire to 45 cm — dramatically improve pronghorn passage rates

Welfare Considerations

Pronghorn welfare is defined by their migratory ecology and the barriers to it. Animals that cannot complete migrations face nutritional shortfalls: winter ranges and summer ranges provide different and complementary resources, and animals cut off from one or the other experience chronic stress and reduced condition. During migration bottlenecks — where fencing channels animals into narrow passes — individual pronghorns can become trapped for days, exhausted and unable to reach food or water. The welfare cost of fencing-induced migration disruption is measurable in reduced body condition, lower calf survival, and increased predation vulnerability of weakened individuals. The conservation solution — modifying fencing to allow pronghorn passage — is technically simple and inexpensive, making this one of the most tractable wildlife welfare interventions available. Landowner cooperation, often facilitated by conservation organisations, has successfully restored passage on key routes, demonstrating that human-wildlife coexistence is achievable with minor infrastructure adjustment.

What You Can Do

Support Wyoming Wildlife Federation and similar organisations working on pronghorn fence modification programmes
Advocate for wildlife-friendly fencing standards on public and private lands in pronghorn range
Raise awareness of pronghorn migration as one of North America's great wildlife spectacles under threat from fencing
Support land trust acquisitions that protect migration corridor bottlenecks from development
Encourage ranchers in pronghorn range to adopt fence modification guidelines that allow wildlife passage