How drought conditions driven by climate change affect pronghorn antelope welfare and what conservation responses can help.
Pronghorn welfare in drought conditions illustrates the direct welfare costs of climate change for wild animal populations. Nutritional stress from vegetation loss causes weight loss, reduced reproductive success, and vulnerability to disease and predation. Fawns born during drought years start life at a disadvantage they may never fully overcome. The welfare of individual pronghorn during drought events is immediate and acute — animals that cannot access adequate nutrition or water suffer physiological consequences that compromise their health and survival. Conservation responses that improve pronghorn resilience to drought — protecting diverse habitat, ensuring water access, and reducing other stressors — are welfare interventions as much as conservation ones.