Pronghorn antelope face increasing climate-related drought stress that reduces food availability and water access with direct welfare consequences.
Pronghorn experiencing drought conditions face the compounded welfare challenges of inadequate nutrition, dehydration, and physiological stress of maintaining high alertness in predator-rich environments while debilitated. Fawns born to nutritionally compromised does are lighter, weaker, and more vulnerable to predation and thermal stress. Drought drives pronghorn to cross roads and fences seeking water and forage, dramatically increasing vehicle strike mortality. The welfare implications extend beyond individual animals to population level recovery capacity, as drought-driven mortality removes productive adults and entire cohorts of fawns.