JACKSON, Wyo. (AP) - Most pronghorn antelope appear to have successfully completed their annual migration from Jackson Hole to winter stomping grounds in southwest Wyoming, although some were late arrivals, biologists said.
About 400 pronghorn spend the summer in the Jackson area and then move to sagebrush country in the Upper Green River area south of Pinedale for the winter.
However, this year, about 180 of the animals were spotted at the National Elk Refuge near Jackson in December when they normally would be farther south.
But refuge biologist Eric Cole said most of those pronghorn left in mid-December.
Wyoming Game and Fish Department biologist Dean Clause helped some of the late migrants on Dec. 14 by laying down a snowmobile track to guide them out of the deeper snow, agency spokesman Mark Gocke told the Jackson Hole News & Guide (https://bit.ly/2iPUajy ) in a story published Wednesday.
The tactic is only “marginally effective,” Gocke said, because oftentimes pronghorn will divert from the path of least resistance and set off on their own.
About six years ago, a group of late migrants wasn’t cooperative and most of the animals died before making it to their winter range, he said.
“In this case, he felt that all of them survived,” Gocke said.
Not all animals that started off December on the elk refuge joined the exodus. Around 30 to 70 pronghorn have been observed in recent weeks in the area, Cole said.
It’s too early to say how they will fare in the months ahead, Cole said.
“We’re just getting to the snow depth - the 1-foot-deep range to 1 1/2 feet - where a pronghorn could potentially get bogged down and be vulnerable,” he said.
Historically, pronghorn wintered in Jackson Hole only sporadically. But in recent years, more of the animals have successfully endured the winter in the snowy 6,300-foot-plus mountain valley.
“It used to be really unusual,” Gocke said. “Now, with the milder winters we’ve been seeing, there’s always a share that seem to make it. Then we’ll get a more normal winter, and a portion will perish.”
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Information from: Jackson Hole (Wyo.) News And Guide, https://www.jhnewsandguide.com
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