Pronghorn Project
by Cat Urbigkit, Pinedale Online!
February 13, 2007
As part of an intensive effort to study the effects of natural gas development on pronghorn antelope, the Wildlife Conservation Society is spending lots of time in the coming weeks placing radio collars on pronghorns in an area ranging from the Mesa to Farson and Fontenelle.
On Monday, a WCS crew, working from a helicopter, was seen gently herding pronghorn off private land and onto federal land on the southern portion of the Mesa so they could be net-gunned and collared.
So if you see a helicopter buzzing a pronghorn antelope herd in the coming weeks, watch what happens next. The chopper will get over the top and a gunner will lean out to net-gun. Once an animal is captured in the net, the chopper quickly lands and the crew alights to begin their work, which takes just a few minutes before they reload and enter the air, ready for the next attempt.
Photos by Cat Urbigkit-Pinedale Online, and the Wildlife Conservation Society.
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