Pronghorns undertake the longest overland migration in the contiguous United States, and their welfare depends on maintaining unobstructed corridor access.
Pronghorn welfare depends critically on unobstructed migration routes. Standard barbed wire fences that cattle can jump are impassable barriers to pronghorn — they will pace back and forth along fence lines rather than jump, causing exhaustion and death during critical migration periods. Animals trapped on the wrong side of fences during severe winter storms starve and freeze. Pronghorn attempting to pass under fences can be injured or become entangled, causing prolonged suffering. Road construction across migration routes causes vehicle strike mortality and behavioral disruption to the migration timing that pronghorn have refined over thousands of years. Climate change is shifting the green-up of forage plants, forcing pronghorn to time migration to a moving target. Wildlife-friendly fencing with bottom rails raised 18 inches and smooth bottom wire allow pronghorn to pass safely.