Have you seen Salt Lake City’s pronghorn?
Most Utahans do not know that our capital city may be the only one in America that has its own herd of native pronghorn antelope inside its city limits. I know of no other such US city where these magnificent big game animals can be routinely seen just off a major freeway and only minutes outside of downtown.
As the only native goat on our continent, the American antelope, Antilocapra americana, is best recognized worldwide for their great sustained running speed – 30mph for 15 miles with a sprinting speed of up to 70mph to escape danger. In the West Desert, I have even had a herd, including youngsters, run past my truck and even cross the asphalt road ahead of me while I was 55mph.
Pronghorn are also known to possess binocular vision, enabling them to spot us at greater distances. They are also very curious about what they see; one younger buck in our herd has even approached me only to run off later when my dog tried to fruitlessly chase it.
“Around the turn of the century populations of both America’s bison and pronghorn were very low, but Utah State Parks and Recreation agreed to protect both threatened species on their State Park on Antelope Island. ”
Around the turn of the century populations of both America’s bison and pronghorn were very low, but Utah State Parks and Recreation agreed to protect both threatened species on their State Park on Antelope Island. Special limited entry hunts are conducted by the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources to help manage those populations, including some trophy mule deer also found there. As a meat-hunter I harvested my first antelope after waiting five years to finally draw a permit for the Flaming Gorge Reservoir area.
Buck pronghorns drop their black curved horns during the winter, similar to mule deer dropping their antlers; however, the two species are not related.
Both antelope and mule deer have migrated across to the mainland in SLC’s Northwest over the decades. I have seen large trophy-size pronghorns in the city limits, and a few of the island’s famous trophy mule deer have also migrated across and are occasionally illegally harvested for their antlers.
Because Great Salt Lake water levels were higher in the past, these animals originally swam or waded across to the mainland. With current, extremely low lake levels, they can now simply cross on open ground.
Like many other wildlife species over the decades, antelope have continued to adapt to human activities – which is referred to as “habituation” – and have grown more accustomed to much of the development of warehouses, a new state prison, and continued use by the numerous duck clubs to the north. Finding good feeding opportunities with little hunting pressure, the herd has grown to about 80 animals in what has become the Inland Port area. They can routinely be seen just west of the International Center and Amazon, and just north of I-80.
I recommend looking north while traveling west as a passenger on I-80 just outside of downtown Salt Lake City for this great watchable-wildlife opportunity. Their herds are pretty easy to spot due to their contrasting reddish-brown and white bodies.