This year of no spring delayed migration from Wyoming’s high desert for weeks-
The famed Jackson Hole pronghorn herd which winters in the high desert 150 miles to the south has been beleaguered by natural gas development and subdivsions. In recent years, Wyoming Game and Fish and numerous other interests have worked to keep millenia-old migration route open despite human impacts.
This year deep snow delayed the migration (an epic migration that goes back at least 6000 years) to the latest date on record, June 10. Pronghorn numbers are down by a third and an unknown number of fawns might have perished.
The Jackson Hole News and Guide has a detailed story. Pronghorn arrive late, new moms may be lagging. Biologists wonder what delayed migration could mean for fawns. By Cory Hatch.
Ralph Maughan
Dr. Ralph Maughan is professor emeritus of political science at Idaho State University. He was a Western Watersheds Project Board Member off and on for many years, and was also its President for several years. For a long time he produced Ralph Maughan's Wolf Report. He was a founder of the Greater Yellowstone Coalition. He and Jackie Johnson Maughan wrote three editions of "Hiking Idaho." He also wrote "Beyond the Tetons" and "Backpacking Wyoming's Teton and Washakie Wilderness." He created and is the administrator of The Wildlife News.
An important question is this, because the migration is knowledge passed from generation to generation, will pronghorn that decided not to cross the wintry divide into Jackson Hole, now summer to the south and their fawn fail to learn the migration route?
There is a very good article in the Billings Gazette today on pronghorn migration between Southern Alberta and Central Montana. I did not know that antelope migrated in some years over 300 miles. It is a bummer that there swimming ability is so limited.
http://billingsgazette.com/lifestyles/recreation/article_0f8f0efd-b4e3-5d98-b4ee-6a69ea5cea50.html
Elk275,
This is a wonderful article! Very interesting.
I didn’t know about the 300 mile migration either.
I’m sorry there has not been more interest about the Eastern Montana pronghorn. I’ve put up several posts about the effect of the winter on them and other wildlife, but with little reader interest.