TUCSON – After four years of comprehensive, science-based management efforts, the number of pronghorn antelope and their increased distribution through Game Management Units 34A, 34B and 35A in southeastern Arizona are encouraging.

The Arizona Game and Fish Department, in cooperation with the Arizona Antelope Foundation, in mid-June counted 48 bucks, 131 does and 84 fawns during a two-day ground survey near Sonoita and Patagonia.

The 263 total pronghorn antelope counted is up from the minimum adult population of 81 four years ago, when the Arizona Antelope Foundation was awarded a National Fish and Wildlife Foundation grant for grasslands restoration projects in the area.

In addition to grasslands restoration, which included a combination of mesquite removal and prescribed burns, fence modifications, water improvements, predator control, and population augmentation were used to help bolster pronghorn antelope numbers.

"The good conditions that allow pronghorn numbers to increase were created by a combination of these actions," said Amber Munig, big game management program supervisor. "Rarely will a single management action result in such positive change."

For more information, visit: https://azgfdportal.az.gov/hunting/species/biggame/antelope.