Pronghorn moving between the Sheldon and Hart Mountain National Wildlife Refuges in the high sagebrush country of Nevada and Oregon.
- 30 individual animals GPS-collared and tracked
- 79 migration tracks recorded
- Tracking span: 2011–2013
- Average migration distance: ~116 km
- Longest single recorded track: 498 km
- Mapped corridor area: 32,839 km²
The map below shows the herd’s migration corridors and a sample of the GPS tracks behind them. Press play on the slider below the map to animate the migration across the calendar year — watch the tracks pulse with the seasons.
Transboundary pronghorn migration
The Sheldon and Hart Mountain National Wildlife Refuges sit on opposite sides of the Nevada-Oregon line, in some of the most remote, lightly-roaded sagebrush country in the lower 48. Pronghorn from the two refuges have made a documented seasonal migration between them for decades — moving north into Hart Mountain’s higher elevations in summer and south to Sheldon’s lower country for winter.
The two refuges are managed jointly by the US Fish and Wildlife Service specifically because of this corridor. Without coordinated management across the state line, the pronghorn migration would lose either its winter or summer range, and the local population would likely collapse.
Why these refuges matter
Sheldon and Hart Mountain are among the largest blocks of unfragmented sagebrush habitat remaining in the West. Outside the refuges, the corridor passes through some of the lowest human-density landscapes anywhere in the contiguous United States — vast BLM grazing allotments, a handful of ranches, and miles of unfenced country. It’s the rare western pronghorn corridor where fence modification isn’t the dominant conservation issue, simply because there are so few fences to begin with.
Watch the animation
Press play below the map. The animation shows the GPS tracks of 79 collared pronghorn moving between the two refuges across the calendar year. The migration is shorter and less directional than the Path of the Pronghorn — pronghorn here drift between summer and winter range rather than committing to a long, narrow corridor — but it’s a textbook example of why federal-state-tribal coordination on connected habitat works.
Related migration maps
This page is part of MapScaping’s western big-game migration series. See the Western US Big Game Migration Map for the complete dataset, explore migrations by species, or browse other famous corridors.
- Sublette Mule Deer (Red Desert to Hoback)
- Path of the Pronghorn
- Jackson Elk Herd
- Kaibab Mule Deer
- Ruby Mountains Mule Deer
- Wyoming Range Mule Deer
- Wind River Mule Deer
