Behavior, home range, and habitat use of pronghorn translocated to tallgrass prairie in east-central Kansas.

Abstract

Twenty-five radio-collared pronghorn were monitored from 27 January -20 September 1991 to determine post-release dispersal, home ranges, mortality, diurnal activity, and habitat use after translocation to a tallgrass prairie in east-central Kansas. Habitat characteristics of the tallgrass prairie study area were measured and compared to recommended characteristics for pronghorn in grassland/sagebrush habitat (Yoakum 1980). Analysis of habitat characteristics indicates that the tallgrass prairie study area exceeds the recommendation for vegetative cover, grass cover, and grass species richness. In addition, annual precipitation exceeds recommendations for grassland/sagebrush habitats used by pronghorn. Twenty-two pronghorn dispersed in a westward (homeward) direction from the release site, with a maximum dispersal of 14 km from the release site. Individual home ranges during fawning and rut life cycle seasons were variable within and among seasons. Mean home ranges of all females, adult females, yearling females, and all individuals did not differ (£ ) 0.05) within seasons. A 2% trap mortality was observed for all animals captured. A 12% post-release mortality of radioed pronghorn was observed; all mortalities were yearling females which died within 10 days after release. A 21% mortality of radioed animals was observed for the entire study. Females were observed loafing 57% of the time during both fawning and rut seasons. Foraging constituted 33% and 40% of diurnal observations during fawning and rut, respectively. During fawning and rut, daily activities of females were not evenly distributed among three daily time periods. Foraging was more common in the morning and late afternoon, whereas, loafing was more common during midday. Female pronghorn used slopes more than available and used uplands less than available during both seasons. My results indicate that restoration efforts for pronghorn to the tallgrass prairie ecosystem may prove successful. However, further work is warranted to determine if the tallgrass prairie can sustain a viable population.