Arizona project gives pronghorns second chance

In 2002, there were only about 21 Sonoran pronghorn left in the United States. But their numbers are rising as researchers have collaborated to carve out a home on a wildlife refuge, expand the herd with a captive-breeding program and help the animals reclaim their range. Today, there are only three Sonoran pronghorn populations in the world: two in northern Mexico and one in the United States. The U.S. herd lives on the Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge, a vast stretch of desert wilderness southwest of Phoenix, managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The refuge's 860,000 acres has no paved roads and, more importantly, no fences. Pronghorn will reluctantly cross roads, but they don't jump well. Pronghorn habitat spills across lands managed by the National Park Service, the Bureau of Land Management, Fish and Wildlife, and all four branches of the military, which train in the area and employ their own biologists. The Border Patrol works in the area as well. Hervert said there were frequent disagreements among the different agencies in the past. His personal strategy for dealing with people he didn't get along with was to outlive them. Not anymore. The population crash changed people. Different agencies came together...read more