Arizona's Pronghorn Antelope; A Conservation Legacy

I love Pronghorn, they're my favorite North American large mammal.

@Breckenridge they are mine too. Being a paleontology enthusiast, I like that they are the only living member of the family Antilocapridae, with all other taxa in that genus being in the fossil record. The fact that they can run faster than a cheetah at short bursts is also quite remarkable!

@Arizona Docent having been to Las Cienegas National Conservation Area, and seeing the Chihuahuan pronghorn (Antilocapra americana mexicana) there, you might appreciate this book.

When was this published? I wonder how up-to-date the conservation status is? Here are my ad-hoc observations which are not very well-informed (though I did speak with a biologist familiar with the conservation efforts in Sonoita south of Tucson - same area referred to above as Las Cienegas).

Arizona has three of the five subspecies of pronghorn. American is near Prescott in Prescott Valley and neighboring Chino Valley (as well as other areas). Prescott Valley is being developed with housing subdivisions that are driving the pronghorn away. Last time I was there I saw a sign for something like three thousand acres of ranchland in Chino Valley for sale. If this gets sold to developers, the formerly robust American population in that area will be doomed I fear.

The Sonoroan subspecies has been in trouble for a long time and continues to be. The border wall makes things worse and may make full recovery impossible.

The Chihuahuan subspecies in Sonoita was very low (less than a hundred I think) and are now on the rebound thanks to conservation efforts. Specifically these efforts involved changing barbed wire fence standards so that the pronghorn could slip under the fence (they will not jump it like a deer will), and shooting coyotes to reduce predation on pronghorn fawns.