Peninsular Pronghorn Recovery program

The desert wind

The peninsular pronghorn is the fastest animal on our continent. Reaching speeds of up to 95 km/h, in a sustained race they could even outrun an African cheetah, the fastest animal in the world.

PENINSULAR PRONGHORN

The peninsular pronghorn (Antilocapra americana peninsularis) is an endemic mammal of the Baja California Peninsula, and one of the oldest settlers of our continent. However, a few decades of interaction with humans during the twentieth century reduced their population to only 170 specimens, placing them on the brink of extinction.

Peninsular pronghorns are fundamental for the desert ecosystem they live in. Being the largest mammal of the plains, theirhooves break up the soils’ saline layer, and they spread the seeds of the plants they eat in their droppings. Thus, new vegetation follows behind the pronghorn herds and helps to provide moisture and shelter to other species.

In 1997, we started the Program to Recuperate the Peninsular Pronghorn and its Habitat. After more than 20 years of uninterrupted work with the species, and with the support and participation of various partners, we have managed, to multiply pronghorn population numbers to more than 500 animals. Currently the peninsular pronghorn birth rate hovers around 100 births annually, and half of those fawns survive into adulthood. We are on the right track, but much remains to be done.

PHOTO GALLERY

Over 22 years of work, we have compiled an extensive library of peninsular pronghorn images. These are some of the most representative.