Pronghorn are North America's fastest land animal, but their long-distance migrations are severely impeded by livestock fencing, creating welfare and population challenges.
Pronghorn welfare is significantly affected by fencing that blocks traditional migration routes between seasonal habitats. Animals that cannot complete migrations face nutritional stress when unable to access summer or winter range, leading to weakened condition, reduced reproduction, and increased mortality. Pronghorn that attempt to cross barbed wire with improperly high bottom strands suffer lacerations and entanglement. Climate change is altering the timing and extent of seasonal movements, making flexible migration corridor protection even more critical. Fence modification programs that raise bottom strands or install smooth wire create wildlife-friendly infrastructure at modest cost, directly improving welfare for thousands of individual animals.