Sask. researchers study pronghorn antelope migration patterns

Posted on December 2, 2025 by Ryan Dahlman

By Shaynee Modien

Shaunavon Standard Local Journalism Initiative The Alberta Conservation Association and Saskatchewan Ministry of Environment are conducting a long-term project to assess pronghorn antelope migration in southwest Saskatchewan. This program, which began in 2024, is in its second year of a 5-7 year study.

Dr. Leanne Heisler, the species manager for pronghorn antelope in Saskatchewan, is one of the leads on this project, which is based in the southwest corner.

“We are hoping to look at migration patterns and winter survival in pronghorn,” states Dr. Heisler. In Saskatchewan, 150 GPS collars will be deployed on pronghorn antelope to track their movements over three years.

The collars will be deployed in December this year, as winter is the safest time to capture big game. In the summer, the pronghorn can get too warm too quickly with collaring.

A similar study was conducted in 2003-2010, when winter conditions killed off a significant number of pronghorn in Montana and Saskatchewan. After that, it was discovered that the population remained low, and hunting had to be closed until 2015.

The latest research shows that pronghorn antelope are having issues again.

“We have seen a decline here over the last couple of years, because their survival is closely tied with the winter conditions,” stated Heisler.

The migration of these beautiful prairie animals continues to be a fascinating study within the scientific community.

According to Dr. Heisler, “the reason why is that pronghorn are a relatively unique species. While they do similar migration patterns to other migratory species, they differ depending on the herd that you are looking at.”

She explains that some animals move long distances regularly in the spring and later in the fall, while other herds mostly stay in small areas, known as “resident” herds. However, when poor winter conditions occur, pronghorn will move as a herd away from the affected area and it’s called a “facultative movement pattern.” According to Dr. Heisler, “they will leave the area with poor conditions.”

The researchers are still trying to figure out some of these patterns, as well as the impact of infrastructure on their movement. The infrastructure they are currently looking at includes the Trans Canada Highway within the projected area, specifically from Kindersley south to the American border, then from the Chaplin area west to the Alberta border.

Dr. Heisler also states that they are unsure of how the TransCanada affects these migrational patterns and are looking at the pronghorn on both the north and south sides in Saskatchewan and Alberta.

Dr. Heisler states that they will try to split the collaring efforts equally north of the Trans Canada Highway and south of it.

“The collars will transfer data to a satellite, and the data will go to the Alberta Conservation Association, so they monitor and interpret pronghorn movement patterns,” explained Heisler.  “We are hoping to produce a map of pronghorn corridors and compare with previous projects to see if anything has changed.”

This is done by shooting a net from a helicopter and then collaring the animal when it is captured. They use a helicopter with a net gun, which Dr. Heisler says is “a lot more efficient, with less chase time involved, and really quick to use.”

The crew can land to get the collar on, take tissue samples within 5 minutes, and then watch until the animal stands up and moves away.

However, permission is still needed to access private property for the helicopters to land.

“The helicopters do not have the authority to just land anywhere we need to,” she stated. “We need permission for the helicopter to land.”

With thousands of pronghorn in the region, they are hoping to get the necessary land access permission before early December so they can quickly get started on the collaring, which will include 50 collars in Saskatchewan and 50 in Alberta, the same as they did last year.

After this year, they should have 200 collars out, and 100 are planned for Saskatchewan and Alberta next year.

“That will give us lots of information on how all of these pronghorn herds are moving on the landscape, north and south of the Trans Canada,”

Dr. Heisler explains.

If people would like to become involved with this project, including allowing access to land or providing herd locations, they can contact Dr. Leanne Heisler, who is based out of Swift Current, at 1-306-741-5016 or email leanne.heisler@gov.sk.ca.