This capture is considered essential to the survival of the Sonoran pronghorn (commonly referred to as ‘antelope’). The offspring of these pronghorn and their progeny will be released into suitable habitat in Arizona and Sonora in four to six years.
The Sonoran pronghorn is now one of the most endangered mammals in the world. Its population has declined drastically in the last century due to habitat loss, unregulated hunting in the early 1900s and natural causes. In the spring of 2003, surveys showed the United State’s population of Sonoran pronghorn had dropped to only 21 animals following a series of unusually dry years in which few fawns were born and fewer survived. The Sonoran pronghorn population in Mexico, although larger than that in the U.S. is still endangered, will help form the basis for this effort through ongoing international efforts to preserve this valuable species.
This captive breeding program is a cooperative effort between the United States and Mexican governments, the Arizona Game and Fish Department, Arizona Department of Agriculture, other partnering agencies and organizations and many dedicated volunteers. Bruce Taubert, an assistant director with the Arizona Game and Fish Department says that without the introduction of new pronghorns into the U.S. population, those remaining will suffer from the negative effects of inbreeding, increased predation and drought.
“Without intervention, Sonoran pronghorn would most assuredly become extirpated in Arizona. This across the border effort is aimed at bolstering pronghorn numbers so future generations on both sides of the border can enjoy these amazing desert speedsters,” says Taubert.
The effort to sustain this magnificent and unique creature has been a model of cooperation and success by the agencies and individuals involved says Dr. Richard Willer, State Veterinarian with the Arizona Department of Agriculture. Dr. Willer was pleased to be able to contribute to the success of the operation. In particular, Dr. Willer’s knowledge of the livestock disease incidence in northern Sonora, Mexico was instrumental in designing an import protocol based on science, while avoiding undue risk to the pronghorn’s safety. “This demonstrates that agriculture and fish and wildlife agencies can work together for the benefit of the animal, despite our rather disparate missions,” says Willer.
The project is based in part on a successful captive-breeding program developed by Mexican biologists to help the related but also endangered peninsular pronghorn in Baja California.
The Sonoran pronghorn was listed as endangered in 1967 under the Endangered Species Preservation Act. Endangered species status means that a plant or animal is “
