Diet of Pronghorn in Western Kansas

Abstract

Pronghorn were common throughout most of Kansas before settlement of the region by European man. They had begun to decline in numbers, even in sparsely populated western Kansas, by 1877, and were nearly extirpated in the state by 1915. However, small herds of pronghorn persisted along the Kansas-Colorado state line, and these were augmented by herds introduced into several regions of Kansas during the years 1964-1979. The diet of the most successful population of pronghorn in western Kansas was found to consist largely of forbs in late spring, summer, and early autumn, of forbs supplemented with wheat and other dicots in late autumn and early spring, and of wheat in winter. Pronghorn are able to live and reproduce where 30% of the land is used for cultivated crops at least in part because they are able to use those crops as food during months when native foods are in short supply.