Seems like I never get tired of watching the many North
American Pronghorn around the state. Doesn't matter if they are standing or
running. Few people realize that pronghorn, like the bison, once numbered in
the millions in the American west. Also like the bison they were shot to near extinction
for meat and skins. Pronghorn are a curious animal and hunters could often
shoot dozens or more in a day. At one point in the late 1800s so much meat was
for sale that one could purchase an entire carcass for a few pennies.
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Not sure how many pronghorn there are today in Wyoming but
the number is often reported as more than the number of people here in the
cowboy state. Wyoming’s people population is a bit over half a million, so that
is a pretty good number of pronghorn, but is likely high by about 200,000 or
so. Still a good number and if you are watching, pronghorn can be seen just
about anywhere in Wyoming.
The Wyoming Game and Fish Department does an outstanding job
of managing the population, allowing hunting to keep pronghorn numbers
constant.
Thinking about taking a drive-about sometime tomorrow, watch
a few North American Pronghorn, or as most westerners call them, antelope.
2 comments:
Very interesting! And these are great shots. So pronghorns and antelope are the same?
They are one and the same, seldom hear anyone call them pronghorn, most everyone refers to them as antelope. The only antelope are in Africa. Interestingly the North American Pronghorn has no relatives, it stands alone as a species.
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