a band of pronghorn ford the Green River on their way towards Grand Teton National Park

How to protect Yellowstone's epic migrations

Conservationists, hunters, and policymakers are collaborating to improve conditions for the park’s migrating mammals.

A band of pronghorn ford the Green River on their way towards Grand Teton National Park.
Photograph by Joe Riis, Nat Geo Image Collection

A new movement is helping animals make epic migrations across the American West by removing some of the barriers humans have thrown up over recent decades.

The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, which spans roughly 18 million acres in and around Yellowstone National Park, is home to what are arguably the most impressive mammal migrations outside of Africa. Each year, thousands of elk, pronghorn antelope, and mule deer must make long, arduous journeys across Yellowstone’s rugged landscape in order to reproduce and avoid starvation.

Making these migrations means running a gauntlet of fences, highways, and housing developments. But now, a group of conservationists, hunters, ranchers, and policymakers are coming together to remove these obstacles.

For example, pronghorn antelope, which happen to be the fastest

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