Peninsular Pronghorn Conservation article

Peninsular Pronghorn Preservation: Restoring the "Ghosts of the Desert" 

 

 

Approximately 9,000 years ago, an animal resembling an antelope, called a pronghorn, roamed over much of Western North America, from Canada to Mexico, including areas in Los Angeles, California. There is evidence, found in the La Brea Tar Pits, that pronghorn used to race each other and the now extinct North American cheetah on what is now Wilshire Blvd. Pronghorn (Antilocapra americanus) are not antelope or deer, have sometimes been thought to be something between a goat and a deer, but are presently in a genus all by themselves. Pronghorn are the only animals that have both a horn and an antler. Males, called "bucks", have horns with bony cores as in other horned animals, such as cows, sheep, antelope and goats, but with an additional outer layer that is shed annually and then regrows with a single prong. Female pronghorn, called
"does", often have horns that do not grow beyond little points or none at all. Pronghorn are the fastest animals in the Western Hemisphere and can run up to 60 miles per hour. They get water from the plants they eat. Pronghorn cannot jump over fences. When ranchers moved in and started putting up fences, the pronghorn started running out of food. They couldn't roam the range freely anymore to find new, fresh grasses and succulents to eat, and they gradually became severely endangered. They only exist now in scattered pockets of animals throughout the western United States and in northern Mexico, and all populations are nearly extinct in the wild.

The Peninsular pronghorn (Antilocapra americana peninsularis), a closely related subspecies of the pronghorn that lived around the tar pits in present day Los Angeles, can be found in very small groups in Baja California, Mexico. http://www.lazoo.org/animals/mammals/peninsularpronghorn. The Greater Los Angeles Zoo, in California, has experienced some success with its Peninsular Pronghorn Recovery Plan, involving the captive breeding of the critically endangered Peninsular pronghorns at the zoo. This year, the L.A. Zoo celebrated the birth of a second set of Peninsular pronghorn twins who, like the pair born last year, will be hand-raised by animal care specialists in the Animal Care Center at the zoo. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/unleashed/2009/04/peninsularpronghorn-twins-at-la-zoo.html. When they are old enough, they will be transferred to the Living Desert, in Palm Springs, California, to participate in further captive breeding which will hopefully continue to help restore the Peninsular pronghorn population. http://www.lazoo.org/conservation

The Peninsular Pronghorn Recovery Effort, the result of the continuing partnership between the Houston Zoo, the Los Angeles Zoo, The Living Desert, in Palm Springs, the San Diego Z oo, Mexico's Espacios Naturales y Desarrollo Sustentable A.C. (ENDESU), Comision Nacional de Areas Naturales Protegidas (CONANP), and Africam Safari, has established a successful captive breeding program at the Estacion Berrendos and La Choya facilities within the El Vizcaíno Biosphere Reserve (EVBR) boundaries, in Baja California Sur, Mexico. Because of this team effort, Peninsular pronghorn are playing in areas they have
not been seen in for decades. http://www.houstonzoo.org/peninsular-pronghorn/

The Greater Los Angeles Z oo, working along with Disney's Animal Kingdom, in Florida, the Living Desert, in Palm Springs, California, the Oregon Zoo, and El Vizcaino Biosphere Reserve, on the Baja California peninsula, was able to release more than 20 captive-bred Peninsular pronghorn back into protected areas in Baja California, Mexico in February 2006. The wild Peninsular pronghorn population is now estimated at about 200 individuals. http://www.lazoo.org/conservation/articles/plightofthepronghorn.html

(All photographs taken by the author, at the Greater Los Angeles Zoo.)

Works Cited

Cartron, Jean-Luc E., Gerardo Ceballos, and Richard Felgar. “History, Ecology, and Conservation of the Pronghorn Antelope, Bighorn Sheep, and Black Bear in Mexico.” Biodiversity, Ecosystems, and Conservation in Northern Mexico. Eds. Rodrigo A. Medellin, et al. U.S.A.: Oxford University Press, 25 Aug 2005. 387+. Print.

Case, Ted J., Martin L. Cody, and Exequiel Ezcurra, Eds. Island Biogeography in the Sea of Cortez. U.S.A.: Oxford University Press, 21 Nov 2002. Print.

“Commitment to Conservation.” L.A. Zoo.org. Greater Los Angeles Z oo Association. Web. 7 July 2009.
Hernandez, Miguel Angel. “El Vizcaino Biosphere Reserve.” Cabos.com. Best Day.com, 14 Feb 2008. Web. 27 July 2009.

Holland, Jeff. “Plight of the Pronghorn.” Zoo View, Spring 2006. "L.A. Z oo: Conservation". L.A. Zoo.org. Greater Los Angeles Zoo Association. Web. 7 July 2009.

Medino, Jose. “Vizcaino Biosphere Reserve.” Vuela Magazine, Year VI. 69. Oct 1999. Questconnet.org. Web. 27, 2009.

“Peninsular Pronghorn.” L.A. Zoo.org. Greater Los Angeles Z oo Association. 7 July 2009. "Pronghorn". National Geographic Book of Mammals. Vol. Two. U.S.A.: National Geographic Society, 1981. 467-469. Print.

“San Diego Z oo.” World Book Advanced. 2009. Web. 8 July 2009.

“Your Morning Adorable: Peninsular Pronghorn at the L.A. Zoo.” L.A. Unleashed. Los Angeles Times. 27 April 2009. Web. 27July 2009.