The Sonoran Pronghorn

Species name: Sonoran Pronghorn (Antilocapra americana sonoriensis)

Habitat: Sonoran desert and mountain valley grasslands.

Range: Southwestern Arizona and Mexico.

Population: 164-216 (estimated) in Arizona; 250 (estimated) in Mexico

(Photo credit: Charlie Boseman.)

Pronghorns are not even closely related to true antelopes, but instead the sole survivors of an ancient family dating back 20 million years. The fastest land animals in the Americas, they are capable of bursts of speed over 50 miles an hour and sustained runs of 35-40 miles per hour. The endangered subspecies known as the Sonoran pronghorn lives in the southwestern Arizona, where temperatures are high and vegetation scarce. Its numbers have been reduced by habitat loss due to livestock overgrazing, and the damming and diverting of rivers. Hunting once imperiled the Sonoran pronghorn, but the subspecies has been protected in the U.S. for several decades.