Video
Pronghorn - ASL / Audio Description
Transcript
Wide open spaces where the wind blows unhindered by low trees and shrubs are the perfect habitat for an animal born to run. Only second to the cheetah as the fastest land mammal on Earth, the pronghorn can sustain speeds up to 55 mph over long distances. With a lean deer-like body, long legs and eyes placed high on their head, pronghorn can spot predators, such as coyotes and humans, at a distance. Pronghorn are adapted to open terrain in the American West and Northern Mexico including the sparsely vegetated Sonoran Desert and arid grasslands found in the hilly areas adjacent to the Santa Cruz River. Even in large herds, pronghorn live lightly on the landscape and are always on the move. With a body weight of between 90-120 lbs these bi-colored white and brown colored animals get much of their water and all their energy by consuming mostly herbs, shrubs, grasses, and even cactus. Pronghorn help maintain their open arid habitat by lightly grazing and turning indigestible plant matter into fertilizer through their feces. While observed mostly as a curiosity by Juan Bautista de Anza and Spanish colonists, adult pronghorn were not an easy animal to pursue due to the pronghorn's excellent eyesight and superior speed which allowed them to outrun Spanish horses. Though not a major part of their diet, records show that the Tohono O'odham did hunt the pronghorn by ambushing or driving herds into enclosed areas where they could be killed by arrows.
Description
ASL / Audio Description for Footprints exhibit at the Anza Trail Cultural History Park in Tucson, AZ (PRONGHORN)
Duration
1 minute, 49 seconds
Credit
AZFLIS
Date Created
01/05/2023
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