Pronghorn Antelope
GYE Timeline
1870:
Eyewitness accounts indicate that thousands of pronghorn can be found in the Yellowstone area.
1872 - 1883:
Market hunters and poachers in the GYE kill thousands of pronghorn.
1886 - 1912:
Management herds pronghorn back into the national park to prevent them from being killed.
1887:
The number of pronghorn is reduced to about 200 animals.
1894 - 1903:
The number of reported pronghorn vary between 500 to 1,000 animals.
1908:
Due to feeding, protection, and predator control, the pronghorn population increases to about 2,000 animals.
1917:
Pronghorn numbers drop dramatically due to harsh winters, starvation, and dispersal.
1918 - 1946:
Pronghorn counts and estimations reach about 600 animals as population size slowly increases.
1936 - 1946:
Population size continues to increase slowly as estimations of pronghorn reach about 811 as their distribution is expanded.
1946:
Management decided to reduce the amount of pronghorn to about 400 animals.
1946 - 1967:
Management begins to worry about the over-browsing of sagebrush in the Gardiner Basin and culling the pronghorn to about 200 animals.
1953:
Park managers decide to keep the number of pronghorn to about 100 to 125 animals.
1969 - 1981:
The amount of pronghorn remain to stay low at about 100 to 190 animals.
1982 - 1991:
The pronghorn population has rapidly increased to almost 600 animals.
1995 - 2011:
The amount of pronghorn reach a maximum of over 500 animals. Due to unknown reasons, the population size crashes to only 200 animals.
2013 - 2017:
Population size begins to rapidly increase once more, as the amount of pronghorn reaches about 500 animals.
2020 - 2021:
Biologists count 416 pronghorns in the Yellowstone areas, specifically between Jim Canyon and Mammoth Hot Springs.