2202_0153 Galloping Pronghorn
From the iconic beast of the Old West - yesterday's post, Plains Bison - to a lesser known but equally interesting native species of grazing herd animal, the Pronghorn. Often referred to as "antelope", the Pronghorn is more closely related to - wait for it - the giraffe and the okapi. But it can easily outrun both. This is North America's fastest mammal, and it isn't even close. So you can imagine how thrilled I was to have several run past me at a full gallop!
Actually I was thrilled just to see them in the park. Grasslands NP used to be home to two distinct herds of Pronghorn, numbering close to 200 animals... that is, until the disastrous winter of 2010-11. Relentless snowfalls with unbelievable accumulation meant they could not find food, and - starving - they migrated southward, which is unusual. Mortality was significant. They crossed the Missouri River on the ice, overwintered in Montana and North Dakota, and then couldn't get back to their calving grounds in Saskatchewan because of severe flooding (they aren't strong swimmers).
As a result, the Pronghorn population in my area plummeted; a moratorium was placed on hunting for several years to allow the population to rebuild. It has done so, but I have not seen herds in the park; they have kept to the agricultural lands surrounding Grasslands, feeding largely on spilled grain.
That's the back story of what these animals have gone through. Now, Pronghorn are not long-lived; lifespan in the wild is 7-10 years. That means none of today's population in my area have a memory of the park. To see a large herd of more than 60 animals in the park last month lifted my spirits enormously. I hope they stay. I've missed them.
Photographed in Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2022 James R. Page - all rights reserved.
2202_0153 Galloping Pronghorn
From the iconic beast of the Old West - yesterday's post, Plains Bison - to a lesser known but equally interesting native species of grazing herd animal, the Pronghorn. Often referred to as "antelope", the Pronghorn is more closely related to - wait for it - the giraffe and the okapi. But it can easily outrun both. This is North America's fastest mammal, and it isn't even close. So you can imagine how thrilled I was to have several run past me at a full gallop!
Actually I was thrilled just to see them in the park. Grasslands NP used to be home to two distinct herds of Pronghorn, numbering close to 200 animals... that is, until the disastrous winter of 2010-11. Relentless snowfalls with unbelievable accumulation meant they could not find food, and - starving - they migrated southward, which is unusual. Mortality was significant. They crossed the Missouri River on the ice, overwintered in Montana and North Dakota, and then couldn't get back to their calving grounds in Saskatchewan because of severe flooding (they aren't strong swimmers).
As a result, the Pronghorn population in my area plummeted; a moratorium was placed on hunting for several years to allow the population to rebuild. It has done so, but I have not seen herds in the park; they have kept to the agricultural lands surrounding Grasslands, feeding largely on spilled grain.
That's the back story of what these animals have gone through. Now, Pronghorn are not long-lived; lifespan in the wild is 7-10 years. That means none of today's population in my area have a memory of the park. To see a large herd of more than 60 animals in the park last month lifted my spirits enormously. I hope they stay. I've missed them.
Photographed in Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2022 James R. Page - all rights reserved.