PronghornAntelope_Translocation_Gray_Shawn_AlpineTX_22August2023_Reel4169.mp3

Shawn Gray [00:00:01] One of the main reasons why we have done these transplants from the Panhandle to the Trans-Pecos is to try to boost these populations and to keep as many adult animals on the landscape as possible for when we get the really good years where we can build back from fawn recruitment.

Shawn Gray [00:00:21] In some of these areas, like the herd in Marathon, we have four herd units over there, and one of the herd units was down to ... like 50 animals.

Shawn Gray [00:00:32] And we, in 2013, we released another, a little over 100 animals into it.

Shawn Gray [00:00:39] And since then that herd has been anywhere from 300 to 600 animals.

Shawn Gray [00:00:45] So, we think that that herd would have just kept diminishing and didn't have enough animals to build back.

Shawn Gray [00:00:52] So when, just in, I guess, basic population dynamics, numbers make numbers and you've got to have enough animals out on the landscape to stop decline or to maintain a stable population.

Shawn Gray [00:01:09] But ultimately, when these areas are so low and the habitat can support many more animals, you want the population to grow. And that's what we've been doing.

Shawn Gray [00:01:21] Another aspect of that, on the very first translocation, is really using those animals to figure out what the hell was going on. And we did learn, because we had a lot of them die.

Shawn Gray [00:01:33] Our first translocation wasn't, in terms of survivability of the animals that we transplanted, wasn't as successful because I think our mortality rates, like maybe 80% of the animals that we translocated died.

Shawn Gray [00:01:52] We learned a lot from those animals.

Shawn Gray [00:01:55] And then every translocation since, it's pretty much a flip-flop. We see our survivorship around, probably average, I would say, 75 to 80% a year or two after our initial release of those same animals...

Shawn Gray [00:02:12] So, our first translocation was in 2011, and that was terrible, terrible, terrible, terrible drought conditions.

Shawn Gray [00:02:21] That was our first mistake. We were hopeful that the drought wasn't going to happen, but it did. That was number one.

Shawn Gray [00:02:28] Number two is fences were a huge problem. And we didn't do anything to address fences.

Shawn Gray [00:02:36] Number three was predation. We didn't do anything really to minimize predation on the naive animals that we were putting out there. They need a little, they need a little help there the first year or so before they, before they really get to know their, their habitat and their area that they're living in.