Pronghorn buck on Antelope Island
Yesterday I photographed this Pronghorn buck on Antelope Island where I spotted it grazing on the new leaves of Moth Mullein. Antelope Island is named after these wonderful creatures but in reality they are not true antelopes, I think Pronghorn Island State Park wouldn’t have gone over as well as Antelope Island State Park though.
Pronghorns are endemic to central and western North America and are the only surviving family member of Antliocapridae. At the time humans entered North America there were five species and now there is only one. Kind of makes me wonder if humans have anything to do with the extinction of the four that are now extinct.
I hope the Pronghorn we do have continue to flourish because they are majestic creatures and the western landscape wouldn’t be the same without them.
Life is good.
Mia
Click here to see more of my Pronghorn photos plus facts and information about this species.
This is an amazing animal; I just love those antlers (I don’t know if in their case this is what they would be called).
Maria, Pronghorn have horns but like deer, moose and elk they do shed but only the exterior of their horns not every thing like deer, moose and elk. A very unique animal.
Thanks for the clarification. They are horns and not antlers.
Pure living, I would love to be there and see the Pronghorn. Thanks for showing him.
Thank you for commenting on him Bob!
Nice photo Mia. Thanks for the bit about the name of the island and the missing four species of the Pronghorn family Antliocapridae. We know with certainty how humans today encroach on wildlife’s habitat, poison raptors by hunting with lead bullets, and generally mismanage wildlife, but the past is still a mystery. When I first visited the La Brea tar pits in L.A. years ago, I wondered what happened to all those animals that were here as recently as 11,000 years ago. If anyone wants an interesting look, go to the web site and click on the timeline to explore: http://www.tarpit.org
Thanks for the link Utahbooklover, I am going to explore that site.
Majestic animal. It almost looks as if the head is too small to support those horns. I would suspect that humans did have a role in the loss of the other species.
Thanks Julie, I wonder how heavy those horns are!
Fabulous capture Mia and I agree don’t thing Pronghorn rolls off the tongue as well as Antelope! 🙂 I’ve always grown up calling them antelope anyway.
Sherry, many people did grow up calling them Antelope! For the longest time I called them Pronghorn Antelope, I only dropped the Antelope after moving to Utah.
A beautiful beast!
Thanks Judy.