Pronghorn

     

Pronghorn standing in tall grass

Photographed by Gary Kramer

     Pronghorns are one of North America’s most interesting mammals. Not only do pronghorns have the longest land migration in the continental United States, they also are the fastest land animal in North America.
     Pronghorns can run at speeds close to 60 miles per hour. Although pronghorns are not as fast as cheetahs, they maintain a fast speed for a longer period of time than cheetahs.  When a cheetah has run out of energy, the pronghorn is still going. 
     Pronghorns are ungulates (hoofed animals) and related to goats and antelope.  They have the body shape of a deer with long legs, short tail,and a long snout.
     The fur is a reddish-brown color, but it can also be tan or dark brown.  Pronghorns have white markings on the face, neck, stomach,and rump. The neck markings are white stripes. The rump has extra long white hairs that the pronghorn can stick up when scared. This also signals to other pronghorns that danger is nearby.
     The most noticeable characteristic of pronghorns is also the source of their common name.  Both males and females have a pair of short horns on the top of the head. The female’s horns are small, usually only a bump.  In contrast, the males’ horns are around 10-12 inches long.  They also have a unique shape, because unlike other ungulates, a pronghorn’s horns point backwards. The horns extend straight up and then curve towards the rump.  At the front of the horn is a small notch or prong that points forward. Hence the name, pronghorn.
     Pronghorns have large eyes and fantastic vision. Their large eyes can spot predators from very far away, which is helpful on the flat grassland habitat of the Red Desert and the Great Plains.
      Pronghorns are herbivores. They eat grasses, forbs, sagebrush and other prairie plants.
They seldom drink water, because they receive most of their water from the plants they eat.
     Some threats to Pronghorns include habitat loss due to fences and roads to make it difficult for pronghorns to migrate, human-wildlife conflicts, and overexploitation by historic hunting greatly reduced the population size.
     Two subspecies of pronghorn are on the Endangered Species List. Peninsular pronghorns and Sonoran pronghorns are both listed as Endangered. 

How to Help:
People can help increase Pronghorn population by donating to the cause via National Wildlife Federation, becoming a member of the National Wildlife Federation to help get alerts and raise awareness for their population, and by adopting a pronghorn to save one that is currently endangered.

Sources:
https://www.nwf.org/How-to-Help.aspx
https://www.nwf.org/Wildlife/Wildlife-Library/Mammals/Pronghorn.aspx
http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/antelope/