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“Helicopter 11, this is GF 874. We have four pronghorn spotted about two miles away. Make a 90-degree
right turn and they will be in your 12-o’clock position,” said research biologist Norris Dodd over the handheld radio while gazing through his powerful spotting scope.
Dodd was guiding the helicopter during a pronghorn-antelope capture effort on Dec. 6-7 along the Highway 89 corridor north of Flagstaff, as part of research efforts that are
paving the way for creating the what will likely be the first-ever pronghorn overpass in North America when this popular highway is widened in the future.
The helicopter located the targeted antelope herd that was grazing in the high grasslands of the Wupatki
National Monument north of Flagstaff. The chopper swooped down and the chase was on. And it wasn’t a slow chase. Pronghorn antelope are the fastest mammals in North America – these speedsters can reach
speeds up to 60 mph.
With the helicopter flying just above the racing herd, the door gunner stood on the skids, eased forward in
his sturdy harness and waited for the perfect shot with the net gun. The shot rang out and the weighted net was propelled by a .308-caliber cartridge over the speeding doe.
The helicopter did a quick turn, flared, and landed. The spotter in the front assumed his other duty – being a
“mugger.” He quickly exited the bird with the shooter close on his heels to help. The two biologists worked
quickly but delicately to subdue the antelope struggling in the net. They put blinders on the doe and it calmed
down significantly.
With their hearts still pounding in their chests from exertion and excitement, the biologists – Carl Lutch and
Larry Phoenix – methodically took various bodily fluid samples, gave the pronghorn a shot of antibiotics,
and fitted it with a radio telemetry collar so its movements can be tracked during the upcoming 365 days.
 Then with wide smiles of satisfaction, the
biologists released the young female so she could rejoin the herd.
One down and 15 more to go…it was not just another day at the office.
The biologists were capturing 16 pronghorn
antelope along 18 miles of the Highway 89 corridor through the Antelope Hills area. The captured antelope were fitted with radio telemetry collars as part of an ongoing
pronghorn movement research study being conducted by Arizona Game and Fish Department biologists.
These biologists are tracking pronghorn movements to advise the Arizona Department of Transportation on how best to help these pronghorn herds when Highway 89 is widened in the future. Highway 89 is the
primary route providing motorists with access to popular recreation areas north of Flagstaff and into Utah. It
is also a major highway artery for the Navajo Nation. This highway across the high plains of the Colorado Plateau north of the San Francisco Peaks will only get busier in the future.
The goal is to meet the need of motorists in the future while lessening the impact to antelope movements.
Biologists are confident it can be done, but there are no guarantees when dealing with the first-of-its-kind
overpass. What is currently envisioned is a wide, naturally vegetated overpass structure over U.S. 89 to facilitate pronghorn movement across this busy highway corridor.
Although such highway crossing projects have been instituted for other animals, such as underpasses for elk
along Highway 260 along the Mogollon Rim, no such project has been instituted for antelope. There is a
successful large wildlife overpass in Canada near Banff, Alberta that is used by various species, such as elk, deer, and bear.
“Wildlife passage structures have shown tremendous benefits in promoting passage for a variety of wildlife
species,” said Dodd, the biologist who is leading the research team effort on the high grasslands of Arizona.
Why all the concern about pronghorn movements? Pronghorn antelope are a species of special concern in
Arizona. Historically, this state probably had more than 45,000 pronghorn roaming its abundant grasslands.
Those numbers had plummeted to well below 8,000, but we currently have around 11,000. The grassland habitats themselves have been significantly reduced over time.
These high grasslands are disappearing at an alarming rate for a number of reasons, such as human development and woody-plant encroachment. The grassland habitats that remain are often fragmented by
man-made obstacles such as roads and fences. Increasing fragmentation raises concerns that isolated pockets of antelope might lose genetic viability.
These amazing speedsters are on a man-caused crash dive that has been exacerbated by drought. Scientists are striving to at least slow down this unwelcome juggernaut.
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Photos by AZ Game & Fish
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