Antelope and deer migration corridor to be studied
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke has cleared a $300,000 research grant to study pronghorn antelope migration patterns in Wyoming. The project was authorized under a secretarial order, which aims to improve federal collaboration with states to enhance and improve the quality of big-game winter range and migration corridor habitat.
“We can’t properly conserve a species when we don’t have important information like range, wintering grounds, and key corridors,” said Zinke. “To solve this, we asked 11 western states to provide their number one research priority for identifying migration corridors, and for Wyoming that was tracking these specific herds of pronghorn and mule deer.”
The grant will allow Wyoming Game and Fish to conduct research aimed at better understanding how pronghorn and mule deer move and migrate. Once the routes are understood, federal and state officials can work together to conserve the most important corridors.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will provide $175,000 to help Wyoming Game and Fish attach 40 to 50 Global Positioning System collars on pronghorn, then monitor their movements for up to three years. That work will focus on the Carter Mountain herd which crosses a number of state highways, fences and other barriers in a 40 mile long corridor.
“Wyoming is home to more pronghorn than the rest of the world combined, but their numbers have been in decline over the last decade,” said Scott Talbott, Director of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department. “The long-term health of our pronghorn herds depend on protecting migrations and other key habitats.”
Another $125,000 in funding will focus on a mule deer project on the Powder River and Pumpkin Buttes herds. GPS collars will monitor 25 to 30 deer along Interstate 90.
