Baja California pronghorn

Baja California pronghorn
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Mammalia
Order:Artiodactyla
Family:Antilocapridae
Genus:Antilocapra
Species: A. americana
Subspecies: A. a. peninsularis
Trinomial name
Antilocapra americana peninsularis
Nelson, 1912

The Baja California pronghorn or peninsular pronghorn (Antilocapra americana peninsularis) is a critically endangered subspecies of pronghorn, endemic to Baja California in Mexico. The wild population is estimated at 200.

Population

The Baja California Pronghorn was the last subspecies of pronghorn to be described and is located in the Baja California peninsula. From 1977 to 1993 researchers did aerial studies and ground surveys on this subspecies, for the aerial surveys they counted 117 and 151 individuals, in the ground surveys results were 83, 39, and 48 individuals. Male to female ratios were 66:100 in the aerial survey and 140:100 in the ground survey. After this study they proposed to capture 30 individuals, 12 males and 18 females, to radio-collar and further study.[2]

Recovery

The recovery for the Baja California Pronghorn is affected by many different factors. Like most pronghorn species drought and nutrition are crucial for survival, but what is unique about the Baja California Pronghorn is human population increase and land development has drastically reduced their habitat. This creates barriers that do not allow genetic diversity to be sustainable and reduce the total are these animals can use in order to forage for food and find water. Conservation efforts need to be conducted in order to safe the habitat of the species, these can include stopping development in the current ranges of the Baja California Pronghorn and reducing the number of males in the population. Reducing the population of males will allow more genetic diversity and open up more habitat for females who are the key to recovery of the population.

References

  1. ↑ Antelope Specialist Group (1996). "Antilocapra americana ssp. peninsularis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2006. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 2008-08-13.
  2. ↑ Jorge Cancino, Alfredo Ortega-Rubio, and Jos´e A. Sanchez-Pacheco (1996). "Status of an endangered subspecies: the peninsular pronghorn at Baja California." Journal of Arid Environments. 32, 463-467.


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