New Fencing Ideas Save Wyoming Pronghorn

In the Red Desert of Wyoming, outdated sheep fences have excluded pronghorn from prime habitat since the 1950s.

After record snowfall in 2022-2023 caused thousands of animals to perish along the fences, a group of wildlife professionals discovered an area of more than 100,000 acres that excluded pronghorn.

Within a year’s time, a diverse group of partners banded together to rebuild 23 miles of new, wildlife-friendlier fences, which restored a portion of access for pronghorn — roughly 10,000 acres of inaccessible habitat and an additional 8,000 acres of restricted habitat.

Now, pronghorns in this part of the Red Desert have a better chance of surviving an uncertain future. (The Wildlife Fund).

Nearly half the pronghorn in the world live in Wyoming.

Watch the video below to learn more.

That one winter, along with fencing from ranchers, has done a lot of harm to the herd.

This video will show you that the fencing fix is easy.

Pronghorn suck at jumping fences.

They like to go under.

Ranchers are being encouraged to cut the bottom two wires to let the pronghorn duck under. The top wires will still stop the cattle.

Ranchers in the area are open to the idea since they want to see the wildlife in their area thrive as much as they want their cattle to do well.

Pronghorns are the second-fastest mammal on earth, reaching up to 50 miles per hour and maintaining that speed for long distances. A cheetah can run 50-80 mph but can only keep that speed for roughly 30 seconds, or about 0.28 miles, before getting tired.

After that harsh winter a couple of years ago, a lot of work has gone into their recovery, and it's working.