Pronghorn antelope undertake the longest land migration in the lower 48 states but face growing barriers from fencing that causes injury, entanglement, and blocked migration routes.
Pronghorn welfare from fencing involves both acute injury events — individual animals entangled in wire — and chronic welfare impacts from blocked migration that force animals to remain in summer range through harsh winters or attempt dangerous crossings. An entangled pronghorn may struggle for hours before death or rescue, suffering serious lacerations and exhaustion. Populations cut off from historical winter range by fence barriers face nutritional stress and elevated winter mortality. The solutions are straightforward and relatively inexpensive: modifying fence bottom wire height and removing wire from critical migration corridors allows pronghorn to move freely without the injury risk of current fence designs. Conservation organizations and landowners working collaboratively on migration corridor protection achieve welfare and conservation goals simultaneously.