When I see cars slowing or stopping to view pronghorns near a road, I know I’m not alone in thinking that they are a majestic part of our local landscape.
We can see their white patches for miles. Mostly tan-colored, the white on their heads, necks and rumps stands out, so I often feel like they’re mooning me. I’m lucky enough to have a herd near my home, and some have come within ten feet of me. They look at me curiously; I look at them the same way. I make no quick moves, and they seem docile. I have to remember that these are wild animals and avoid startling them as I slowly raise my camera or phone.
One reason not to get closer is that pronghorns emit a musty smell from scent glands. Some say their rump glands smell like buttered popcorn. I don’t really want to be the one to check. While pronghorns as a species are not seen as endangered, some pronghorn herds are endangered.
Jeff Gagnon, wildlife and transportation specialist with Arizona Game and Fish, recently gave a phenomenal and informative presentation at the Highlands Center for Natural History about the problems and solutions that pronghorns face.
Gagnon said they are doingwell where they aren’t fragmented, and they aren’t doing as well where they are. “Pronghorns cannot survive when they are too fragmented,” he said.
Highways, roads and bad fences are the top fragmenters of pronghorn herds, but canals, railroad tracks and renewable-energy fields can also break up pronghorn habitat.
So what can we do about these obstacles? Fences can be taken down, or raised to at least 18 inches off the ground. Pronghorns won’t jump over fences, rather, they go under them, and for that need at least 18 inches. Gagnon captured the audience with his motto: “Good fences make good neighbors. Bad fences make dead pronghorns.”
Continual construction of highways and roads fragment pronghorn habitat, and Arizona’s unabated growth makes this an ongoing issue. In 2005 there were 5.1 million people in our state; by 2050 we can expect to see 14 million. The question becomes, how can we live together?
Some answers are clear, but expensive. Many elk and deer are killed by motorists each year, along with many motorists in the process. Highway traffic kills fewer pronghorns because they just won’t cross them, which is why highways cause habitat fragmentation.
Wildlife overpasses can be very important. This is happening in many counties around the nation, including parts of Arizona. US Highway 93 carries over 5,000 vehicles daily, and bighorn sheep would not cross it. The construction of one wildlife overpass resulted in more than 6,000 bighorn sheep crossing, and none was killed crossing the road.
On I-40 between Flagstaff and Williams more than 100 elk and deer are killed every year. These highway kills have led Arizona Game and Fish to identify and prioritize migration corridors. A wildlife overpass near Flagstaff is currently in the planning stages.
Both ordinary citizens and municipalities should consider asking developers to build with wildlife and wildlife corridors in mind. This is also the case with solar-energy fields, and Arizona Game and Fish is working with one solar project to see how it can better allow pronghorns to travel through.
One pronghorn herd in the Prescott area was so fragmented that it had to be moved to southern Arizona, where Gagnon says it is doing very well.
The City of Prescott is inviting citizen input on how to help pronghorns around two current projects. One is the City General Plan, a good venue for citizens to help ensure that pronghorns and other wildlife are considered in City planning. The second is an open-space initiative. This would be a great step forward in helping the pronghorn maintain their herds.
“There are challenges, but there are also opportunities. There is hope if there is planning,” he said.
The cost of a wildlife overpass can vary widely with size, but it’s always high. These projects are less expensive when combined with other highway projects, which is usually the case. “It can be a small piece of a huge project,” Gagnon said.
One wildlife overpass in California cost $93 million. The standalone project on I-17 near Flagstaff is currently estimated to cost $24 million.
Pronghorns are the fastest animal in North America, reaching speeds of 55 miles per hour. But that’s not fast enough to avoid some vehicles; most pronghorns are smart enough to avoid crossing highways, but that leaves them with the problem of habitat fragmentation. More open space and wildlife corridors will help ensure that these majestic creatures will always be part of the Yavapai County landscape.
