In light of these findings, The Pew Charitable Trusts has developed a set of broad recommendations to help land and wildlife managers, conservationists, industry, and other stakeholders better coordinate and direct their efforts to protect these majestic species: Additionally, wildlife-vehicle collisions on our nation’s roads take a costly and sometimes deadly toll on animals and people, while entanglement in fences claims hundreds of animals’ lives each year. And climate change is altering the growth patterns and abundance of forage at key locations and times of year. Fencing, roadways, residential development, and energy and mineral production operations can block, alter, or fragment migration routes and limit access to adjacent habitat that ungulates rely on.
Human activity disrupts migratory behavior and jeopardizes the health of ungulate populations.Further, because animals in some species learn how and where to migrate from older members of the herd, disturbance of a route for more than a generation can mean the long-term or permanent loss of that inherited knowledge and, with it, vital nutritional and fitness resources. Wildlife depends on resources that are found in different places throughout the year, and when animals cannot access food or important habitat, individual animals and the herd can suffer. When migration pathways are blocked or disrupted, animal populations tend to decline.Ungulates that migrate successfully tend to be fatter than those that do not, and fatter females are more likely to survive the winter and produce healthier young, which in turn supports the overall well-being of herds. Moving from place to place, often across hundreds of miles, allows these animals to negotiate changes in weather, food availability, predator activity, and other ecological variables. Migration between seasonal habitats is a critical part of the life cycle of most ungulate populations in the western U.S.This report is based on a synthesis, conducted by the Wyoming Migration Initiative on behalf of The Pew Charitable Trusts, of the growing body of science regarding the migration of western North America’s populations of mule deer, elk, pronghorn, and other ungulate species and identifies the most substantive threats to migrating wildlife. And as the data pours in, that new knowledge has significant implications for how wildlife and their habitats can be managed to ensure that migrating species can persist and thrive in the face of old and new challenges. Although GPS has been around for several decades, it has only recently been scaled up for broad applications in wildlife research. In addition to answering simple questions about where animals go every spring or fall during their migration seasons, the data is providing critical new insights into why and how animals move between seasonal ranges. The massive amount of data generated from these research endeavors is also transforming the work of wildlife managers, land stewards, transportation officials, and policymakers.
This information, which primarily indicates where a particular animal is located at a given moment, is revolutionizing the understanding of wildlife ecology by enabling scientists for the first time to pinpoint when and where wildlife moves at a grand scale. 1 Now, in the 21st century, science is uncovering fascinating new information about the amazing treks that mule deer, elk, and pronghorn make each year across the American West.Įvery day, from some of the most remote and spectacular reaches of the United States, special GPS collars affixed to large ungulates (hoofed mammals), other mammals, and birds beam tens of thousands of electronic signals via satellite to researchers across the country. Aristotle and his contemporaries marveled at the sudden disappearance of birds and animals in the fall and their reappearance in spring. The natural spectacle of wildlife migration has beguiled people for millennia-a sense of wonder that continues today.
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