Wildlife Exchange: NM & Mexico

An international wildlife exchange program taking place between New Mexico and Mexico had the first leg completed recently, when 125 pronghorn antelope were moved to the state of Coahuila in Mexico.

New Mexico Department of Game and Fish employees used a helicopter to herd the antelope into a fenced trapping area, where they were examined by veterinarians and had ear tags attached before being shipped.

An additional 27 animals were relocated to Santa Ana Pueblo lands near Bernalillo, N.M., to help repopulate the species there.

The antelope were taken from cooperating private ranches in northeastern New Mexico, reducing the existing population by about 10%. Four animals are known to have died during the process.

This is the third transplant of pronghorn to captive breeding facilities in Mexico, with the hope that the animals will reproduce enough so that they can be released to multiple locations in the country.

In exchange, the state of New Mexico should receive 10 male desert bighorn sheep, which will expand the population and gene pool of the existing herd located at the Red Rock Wildlife management area. Hopefully, the bighorn population will grow further from this introduction, with new lambs.

The ongoing program is a co-op between the New Mexico DGF and Mexico's Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources and Natural Commission of Protected Natural Areas. New Mexico has also sent elk and mule deer to Mexico over the past three decades.

It's nice to learn of a program that shows goodwill between countries and that also helps to repopulate herds of animals that need it.