page_title: Pronghorn
section_title: Range and ecology
hierarchical_section_title: Pronghorn / Range and ecology
caption_attribution_description: Antelope near w:Fort Rock in Northern w:Lake County, Oregon Antelope near w:Fort Rock in Northern w:Lake County, Oregon
context_page_description: The pronghorn is a species of artiodactyl mammal indigenous to interior western and central North America. Though not an antelope, it is often known colloquially in North America as the American antelope, prong buck, pronghorn antelope, prairie antelope, or simply antelope because it closely resembles the true antelopes of the Old World and fills a similar ecological niche due to parallel evolution. It is the only surviving member of the family Antilocapridae.
  During the Pleistocene epoch, about 12 antilocaprid species existed in North America. Three other genera existed when humans entered North America but are now extinct.
  As a member of the superfamily Bovoidea, the pronghorn's closest living relatives are, among others. The Bovoidea are in turn members of the infraorder Pecora making pronghorns more distant relatives of the Cervidae, Moschidae and Giraffoidea.
  The pronghorn is the symbol of the American Society of Mammalogists.
context_section_description: The present-day range of the pronghorn extends from southern Saskatchewan and Alberta in Canada south through the United States (southwestern Minnesota and central Texas west to coastal southern California) and northern Baja California Sur, to Sonora and San Luis Potosí in northern Mexico.
  A subspecies known as the Sonoran pronghorn (A. a. sonoriensis) occurs in Arizona and Mexico. Other subspecies include the Mexican pronghorn (A. a. mexicana), the Oregon pronghorn (A. a. oregona), and the critically endangered Baja California pronghorn (A. a. peninsularis).
  Pronghorns prefer open, expansive terrain at elevations varying between 900 and 1,800 m (3,000 and 5,900 ft), with the densest populations in areas receiving around 25–40 cm (9.8–15.7 in) of rainfall per year. They eat a wide variety of plant foods, often including plants unpalatable or toxic to domestic livestock, though they also compete with them for food. In one study, forbs comprised 62% of their diet, shrubs 23%, and grasses 15%, while in another, cacti comprised 40%, grass 22%, forbs 20%, and shrubs 18%. Pronghorns also chew and eat (ruminate) cud.
  Healthy pronghorn populations tend to stay within 5.0–6.5 km (3.1–4.0 mi) of a water source.
  An ongoing study by the Lava Lake Institute for Science and Conservation and the Wildlife Conservation Society shows an overland migration route that covers more than 160 mi (260 km). The migrating pronghorn start travel from the foothills of the Pioneer Mountains through Craters of the Moon National Monument to the Continental Divide. Dr. Scott Bergen of the Wildlife Conservation Society says "This study shows that pronghorn are the true marathoners of the American West. With these new findings, we can confirm that Idaho supports a major overland mammal migration - an increasingly rare phenomenon in the U.S. and worldwide."
  Cougars, wolves, coyotes, and bobcats are major predators of pronghorns. Golden eagles have been reported to prey on fawns and adults. Jaguars also likely prey on pronghorns in their native range in the southwestern United States and in northern Mexico.
caption: Pronghorns in Fort Rock, Oregon
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