Sonoran Antelope???

[okielite]

I was reading an article about ORGAN PIPE CACTUS NATIONAL MONUMENT in Arizona and ran across this. Never knew there was a different species of antelope in the US.

http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/4/23/arizona-park-once-deemed-most-dangerous-in-the-us-reopens-to-public.html

The park service also supports conservation projects, including one to bring the skittish Sonora pronghorn back from the brink of extinction. It has succeeded in boosting their numbers in the monument to 50 from 22. Research projects include an archaeological study by a team from the U.S., Mexico and the sovereign Tohono O'odham nation to uncover traces of the ancient Hohokam salt and shell trading route that for centuries beat a path across the blazing desert to the Sea of Cortez.

Anybody ever seen a "Sonora antelope"?

More info about them
http://www.nps.gov/orpi/learn/nature/pronghorn.htm

They are now on my list of animals to see before I die. Sounds almost like a mini antelope. Pretty cool.

 

[Ikeepitcold]

Interesting. Didn't know there was a differance either.

 

[PlainsHunter]

Had no idea- thanks for sharing

 

[ssliger]

There was a reference to them in a National Geographic book that my 7 year old son has, but they also had a picture of a mule deer, and labeled it white tail deer. So thought they where making crap up.

 

[Gr8bawana]

I saw a program about the Sonoran desert of Arizona a few years ago and they showed these antelope. They looked like any other antelope but they inhabit a much drier habitat than we are used to seeing them in. Perhaps they consider them a different species because they as so isolated from other antelope populations.

 

[lostriverproductions]

thanks for posting, interesting read

 

[Colorado Cowboy]

I've seen them in Baja. Not many and they are really protected there.

 

[micropterus79]

I've lived in AZ almost two years now and this is new to me; thanks! Cool read!

I suppose, from an evolutionary standpoint, not much different than the Coue's whitetail. A smaller body (less volume:surface area) will be favored in climates like the Sonoran desert. Plus, as many here know, Coue's deer are also considered more "skittish" and difficult to hunt.

 

[HuskyMusky]

I think there are 4-6 subspecies in NA, but only able to hunt 1 subspecies as I believe the rest are in low numbers, I think maybe 2 in the US the rest are in Mexico.