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Jeff Burrell / Wildlife Conservation Society
Pronghorn cross a new overpass on Wyoming's U.S. 191.
The fastest land animal in the U.S. now has safe passage across a Wyoming highway -- extending a seasonal migration that's been going on for 6,000 years.
Pronghorn antelope have started using two overpasses atop Highway 191 that were completed this fall, the Wildlife Conservation Society announced this week. Eight-foot high fencing channels the animals to the crossing points.
“The importance of these overpasses and their use by pronghorn cannot be overstated,” Joel Berger, a Wildlife Conservation Society scientist, said in a statement announcing the first successful crossings. “They eliminate the danger of collisions and will help to preserve a spectacular element of our natural heritage -- the longest mammal migration in the 48 contiguous United States.”
The group has been tracking pronghorn in the area and provided data for Wyoming to decide where to put the overpasses.
The entire $10 million project includes six underpasses used by deer, moose, elk and other animals. Pronghorn got the overpasses because they don't like going into tunnels.
The eight passages are along a 13-mile stretch of Highway 191. The state's aim was to reduce car-wildlife crashes -- from 2002 and 2006, 49 deer and three pronghorn were killed in crashes.
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Able to run at speeds up to 70 mph, pronghorn probably numbered around 35 million in North America two centuries ago, the Wildlife Conservation Society stated. Today, Wyoming is home to more than half of the estimated 700,000 pronghorn left in North America.
The pronghorn use the corridor to get back and forth between winter sagebrush in the Upper Green River Basin and summer grounds in Grand Teton National Park.
Several hundred make the 93-mile migration each season -- and now they have the chance to do it without stopping at Highway 191.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Leave a Comment:
Only two kinds of animals out in WY, the quick and the dead. LOL
What is it - Bambi Memorial Bridge? It should have been made in the shape of a pork chop.
Anyone ever tried antelope? It's pretty good, and much better than mule deer.
I wouldn't mind trying it. Those hunters pay big money to hunt those pronghorn. They don't want them killed on the highway.
How fast can they run? I don't know but in eastern new mexico, if you will drive across the desert at 45 mph, often, after a while, you can look out your side window and an entire herd will be running close along side, pacing you. After a mile or so, they will turn on the speed and pass in front of you and fly off into the distance. Is it a game for them? If you are going much faster than 45, you will never see them. It seems to me that they won't race you if they don't think they can beat you.
Wonderful.
Good news, they should build a lot more animal crossings like this in a lot more states and begin making them a standard part of all new highway construction.
That being said, it doesn't seem that the pronghorn were actually having much trouble crossing the highway:
"from 2002 and 2006, 49 deer and three pronghorn were killed in crashes."
3 pronghorn in 4 years? There are probably places in America that had more human pedestrian fatalities.
"Eight-foot high fencing channels the animals to the crossing points."
I would also hope that the Wildlife Conservation Society bought at least several hundred acres of land on each side of these crossing points or at least worked with landowners to set up No Hunting zones anywhere near them otherwise they have just created shooting alleys. Especially if the fencing runs the entire 13 mile stretch which it sounds as though it does. Hopefully there are also game wardens to patrol areas near the crossing as it is now a point where the animals have to go to cross the highway making them vulnerable to poaching.
I think the crossings are great, but erecting fencing to make them the only means of crossing the highway forces the animals into what could be a very precarious situation where they are easy prey. I say build the crossings but forget the fencing, animals will naturally choose to use them to avoid the highway, but should still have the ability to take their chances crossing elsewhere when threats are present.
The article doesn't mention, but the crossing study was a joint effort between WYDOT, WY Game & FIsh, and WCS. The funding came from the state itself. Let this sink in - a so-called Red State has financed something for animal conservation. I know that must cause a crisis of faith for people who hinge on every word frothing from the Ed Show and Last Word.
ever hit a deer? it can total your car. I wish they would do something here in ky. to keep them off the highway.This time of year they are all over the place.
It's getting close to rutting season for deer. Becareful out there they will be moving everywhere soon.
@pjam09 I don't understand how an animal would decide to take an overpass if it's farther than a glance away? The fences don't need to stretch for many miles if this creature I've never heard of and is apparently as fast as a cheetah has a relatively direct migration route.
I agree that animal routes should be built in to highway design, but I don't understand the desire to let them cross wherever they want. The problem with animals getting hit beyond them dying off is cars can be destroyed and people can die. I'm thinking if millions are spent expertly positioning and designing animal crossings the least can be done is to have a little bit of fencing guiding them through. Animals are pretty unintelligent, they don't look at highway and think, "ok when there's no cars I'll go." They go (and maybe die) or they don't (and populations are cut off).
I wish some bright engineer would design some kind of "silent alarm sound" running along the roads, that is triggered when an animals get too near freeways and highways that would repel them away from the roads.
I imagine there would be a lot of logistics to work out, but it might be possible?
Humans wouldn't hear it but, most animals might so they would be frightened and keep their distance from roadways.
This said, the land on both sides of these highways must be good habitat for them.
The overpasses are great for migrating animals!
I love animals and hate seeing all the roadkill, but they are not terribly bright and don't understand cars and trucks except that they are probably loud and scary to them. This kind of device, if it could be built to keep animals away from the roads, would save a lot of human lives too.
And by the way, many times animals come to the side of the road because we humans throw food out our windows. Please don't do that, it acts like a lure to the road for many of these little critters.
Seriously, Joshua? Animals are unintelligent? It seems to me that humans are the problem, not the animals, and if we have to spend a bit of money to accomodate them after we have destroyed their natural territory, so be it. Also what part of 750,000 out of three and a half million are you missing. As a superior being, you can do math, yeah?
shilodance: The numbers are 750 thousand out of thirty five million, not three and a half million .
How about the jackelopes?
Well, beings that they are closely related to the antelope, they just jump on over, using their horns as antennae to warn oncoming travelers... :)
How in the hell is the figure of "35 million two centuries ago" arrived at?
I don't know, but the American Bison aka Buffalo numbered in the millions before they were slaughtered by people after their hides. Now there are what, maybe 30-40,000 left? And that is after an intense effort to protect and re-establish them.
In the Lewis and Clark journals it was mentioned that they had to wait days for a single bison herd to pass by before they could continue on their expedition because the bison herd was incredibly enormous. What a fantastic and wonderous site that would've been!
WikiLeaks.
Alan Dean Foster, are you the sci fi writer?
Only several hundred??? Out of more than 350,000.
They couldn't find a place where more are likely to cross?
....and yes, I've been in Wyoming....many times.....
FormerCARes,
This is one herd with a well established pattern of migration. Wyoming is a pretty large state, and has a lot of environment for both upland summer pasture and wintering grounds spread across the state. The problem seems to have been the Pronghorns' aversion to tunnels, thus the underpasses and fencing would have disrupted the migration of the herd - possibly causing most of the animals to starve outside their established wintering ground in Grand Tetons.
Could humans find better places to cross, perhaps? Being all superior and such?
For what it is worth--The pronghorn is a memeber of the deer family; it is not an antelope.
Squarepeg,
It is the only surviving member of the family Antilocapridae. Their closest extant relatives are the giraffids. They share a common ancestor with deer and bovids.
Comments are surprisingly informative. I had no idea about these animals, good for Wyoming giving them a safer way to migrate.
They should do this everywhere to cut down on the death of animals that hit by cars and the damage of cars and some times the death of driver or passengers. I also thought this would be great if when building road ways we built overpasses and tunnels (for small animals) for animals to cross the road. And when they update roads to add these overpass and tunnels. I am surprise that insurance companies don't get on board how much money would it save them for repairs on damaged cars or deaths.
I think people should start a campaign in their states to get these overpasses and tunnels built and out reach to insurance companies to help in getting this done.
Good thing it isn't Washington State or the ranchers would complain about the broken fences and the state would get the helicopters and hire people to wipe them out. You should hear the hunters from WA. whine when I refuse to let them hunt on my ranch property. If you use helicopters to hunt, and kill, wolves on public land, don't even think of shooting on my property or I'll shoot back. I don't care if you spent >$500 for a license and finally got selected for a license after 6 years.
I'm with ya. During hunting season (here in Stevens & Ferry counties) residents almost have to paint themselves orange, wear a helmet with flashing blue & red lights, and mount a siren to their back if you want to go for a walk (on your own property). These "hunters" don't give a crap about private property or no trespassing signs.
Now I carry my AKM. They just might give a crap when someone shoots back.
Your land, your rules. There are plenty of other places to hunt.
Pronghorns are not antelopes! They just resemble them. Completely different species.
three pronghorns dead in 5 years justifies spending tax dollars building the overpasses?
D Bennett,
You apparently missed another phrase in the article, "Several hundred make the 93-mile migration each season -- and now they have the chance to do it without stopping at Highway 191." Those who stop risk starvation and missing a vital link in their reproductive cycle. In other words, they don't end up sprawled across the hood of a car, but that doesn't mean that they survived or reproduced.
Your absolutely right DBennet, why would we want to spend money preserving animals when we could be making bombs to kill Muslims.....
I'd rather them use the money this way than wasting it on useless politicians pork funds.
D Bennett, if five humans got killed, would you be up in arms?
I've witnessed myself the majesty and beauty of thousands of these antelope ranging across southern Idaho. I cannot for the life of me wonder why anyone else would be so callous as to question the integrity of the fed's action to provide a future for what I saw to be a miracle. Here in our United States! I last saw this in '80 and am so glad to read that to this day these beautiful animails have free reign, passage. I hope that for all of time we can all enjoy this spectacle - the american serengeti. Could we be so fortunate to see Bison so unencumbered?
gerkle,
This actually seems to be a Wyoming STATE project, not Federal.
Why? Some people are happy being hateful.
Yay! for the people who don't have to worry about colliding with wildlife and Yay! for the wildlife that don't end up dead. I drove on a highway that passed by Big Bend and there were lots of very large deer, many with antlers. At night you could see their eyes as you approached but at one point, there were deer right in the middle of the road(in the two-way turning lane) and by the time I saw them all I could do is pray, please don't move, deer, please don't move. Fortunately, for me and my parents, they did not move.
The eight passages are along a 13-mile stretch of Highway 191. The state's aim was to reduce car-wildlife crashes -- from 2002 and 2006, 49 deer and three pronghorn were killed in crashes.
Awful expensive solution for the death of 52 animals in 4 years. Another fabulous waste of taxpayer money.
The Germans do this for deer also. It is a great idea. Now if we can get the trigger happy "sportsmen" to quit wanting to kill wolves.
The wolves and coyotes too are also in danger of landowners who poison whole packs and dens of them. Poisoning causes very painful deaths.
Wyoming has one of the largest $ surpluses in the nation, combination of natural resources, low population and a stingy legislature has allowed them to do projects like this. States make noises of resource management but few actually spend big money like this.
@square dude
You're right on, and that is part of what makes me proud to be from Wyoming.
Obviously the numbers of Antelope killed before the crossing was put in is understated by quite a bit. They would not build such a large and expensive overpass for only 49 animals, that was probably the number from just one month. I agree with Laurette G. these types of things should be built everywhere if we are to keep the wildlife numbers at sustainable levels and not have "islands" of individuals that are weak or sick after the gene pool dwindles from not being able to reach others in other areas to copulate. Thank you WGF and WYDOT. There are those of us who keep hoping the Wyoming Game and Fish will do much MORE for wildlife conservation, this is a start.
Obviously there were many more Antelope killed than just 49 to go to the expense of building such an expensive overpass, that was probably the number in just one month! Thank you Wyoming Game and Fish and WYDOT for doing something for the wildlife that is conservation related.
Too many animals are killed on the highway, just like Bill Catz mentions - "the quick and the dead" because so many people are in such a hurry and so many creatures need to get to the other side of the road for whatever reason. I agree with Laurette G. that many more need to be built around the nation. With the attitudes of drivers like Bill Catz we could use them sooner.
Driver attitude has a lot to do with this. I used to speed all over. I finally, after years, decided that it was just not worth the possibilities. When I started driving the speed limit, and even a little slower in crucial situations, I in fact witnessed coyote and deer waiting at the side of the road, watching and waiting for me to pass. This driving was in California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah and New Mexico.
Let me get this right. They spent $10 million for construction not to mention what the study costs? All of this because 49 deer and 3 pronghorn died in 4 YEARS??? I could think of a few other things $10 million dollars could be spent on to help this country...
What things?
Do you realize what most money goes to just because of whims? Anyway, I am one that does not find environmental causes to be whims, for the most part.
Unless you live in Wyoming I fail to see why you care about how their tax dollars are spent....If you do live there, take it up with the legislature there. Ranting on MSNBC will do nothing.
Personally I congratulate the proactive actions to help the migration of those animals.
I wonder how a pronghorn taste? If it's anything like deer, I want some.
Probably taste like chicken. Everything taste like chicken, except chicken.
Highway 191 is also a main thoroughfare to several large oil and gas fields that the migration runs through. Wyoming goes out of it's way to ensure that public lands as well as private lands are responsibly managed for multiple use. I might also add that our budgets are fiscally sound and managed responsibly. A lesson the Federal Gov't could stand to benefit from.
The overpasses are new but if you've ever had a pronghorn run out in front of you like I have you'd know that pronghorn are even dumber than deer. They don't like that tunnels that are more common and the fences are required to help funnel them over the overpasses. They won't "naturally" want to cross the overpasses. Another person was worried that this would be an area that would allow hunters or other predators to take advantage of but I've never known a person to come up empty handed hunting pronghorn and this project isn't going to "increase" the number of hunters so that doesn't really matter.
There was a long stretch of I-80 in Nebraska that received a very expensive fence because it had the highest deer-car collision rate in the entire state. This is all from a point of human safety. Just think about hitting a pronghorn, deer, elk, bison or moose doing 65 mph. I've been lucky enough to miss three of those animals while driving in Nebraska Wyoming and Colorado. I haven't had a moose run out in front of me and the bison was on a rancher's land that we had to pass through at night. SCARY! The injury (or death) and damage sustained in a collision is worth the expenditure for these tunnels fences and in select usage overpasses as long as all of these are used in appropriate and deserving areas.
I was in Banff and Jasper parks in Canada a couple of years ago. They have those type of overpasses for the wildlife up there. It is a great way to protect the bears, elk, and deer. It is such a shame to lose them to vehicles. Of course, there is the human safety factor also.
This is awesome. I drove through Wyoming years ago and was stunned by the amount of road kill. Here in Mt. the antelopes don't get hit a lot. I think actually being goats, they are smarter than mulies who make up for the most of the road kill. We need our wildlife.
Where did this author come up with the idea that Pronghorn are the fastest mamals in the US? They may not be indigenous, but cougars are just as fast or faster. Making statements that must be redefined is unprofessional and novice. I would love to see a race, but the cougar would probably eat the loser.
cougars are fast for a short burst, and yeah, they can catch a pronghorn, but truly they can't outrun a pronghorn, hence their stealth...
Love, Love, Love this!!! Need to do it in more states for our furry little friends to have safe passage!! ; o )