Wild Pronghorn Welfare: America's Fastest Land Animal

Pronghorn are North America's fastest land animals whose welfare faces threats from fencing, habitat fragmentation, and climate change affecting their long-distance migrations.

Key Facts

Pronghorn are capable of running at sustained speeds of 88 km/h, adapted to escape predators on open plains
Their annual migration in Wyoming covering up to 300 km is one of the longest remaining land migrations in the Western Hemisphere
Barbed wire fencing across their range blocks migration routes causing animals to bunch at barriers and increasing predation risk
Pronghorn populations declined from an estimated 35 million before European settlement to under 1 million by the early 1900s
Conservation and hunting management has allowed recovery to approximately 700,000 today, but habitat fragmentation continues

Welfare Considerations

Pronghorn welfare is primarily shaped by their need to complete seasonal migrations that have been repeatedly disrupted by infrastructure development. Fencing across migration corridors forces animals into dangerous barrier bunching situations where predation, exhaustion, and starvation risk increase. Wildlife-friendly fencing with smooth wire bottom strands that allow pronghorn to pass underneath rather than jump over has been successfully implemented along key migration routes. Climate change reducing winter and spring forage quality creates nutritional stress throughout the system.

What You Can Do

Support wildlife corridor organizations working on pronghorn migration route protection
Donate to programs retrofitting livestock fencing with pronghorn-friendly designs along key migration routes
Advocate for infrastructure planning that accounts for wildlife migration corridors
Learn about pronghorn ecology and their remarkable migration to share conservation awareness