THE PRONG-HORNED ANTELOPE 
117 
When fighting, or alarmed, this white hair is 
instantly thrown up, and on a fleeing animal it 
forms a dangerously conspicuous and inviting 
mark. To my mind, the white rump-patch of 
the Prong-Horn is one of Nature’s errors. It 
enables a pursuer to mark the animal long after 
it should really become invisible. 
The Prong-Horned Antelope is next in size to 
the smaller species of our 
mountain sheep. It is smaller 
than the white-tailed deer of 
the north, but as large as the 
southern forms. The largest 
specimen in the Zoological 
Park herd measures 371 inches 
high at the shoulders, has a 
head and body length of 
47f inches, tail, 3^ inches, 
and chest circumference of 35 
inches. Its horns are 12| inches 
long and 1 21 inches wide be- 
tween the tips. The longest 
horns on record are 17 inches 
in length, but any that meas- 
ure 12 inches may fairly be 
considered large. The female 
has no horns. 
The colors of this animal 
are usually two, consisting of 
a cloak of light yellowish- 
brown thrown over the back 
and neck of an otherwise 
white animal. On the throat the brown is laid 
on in a curious collar-like pattern, and the adult 
males usually have a wash of black on their 
cheeks. The ears are very shapely, and from 
the neck an erect mane rises from four to five 
inches in length. The legs are exceedingly 
trim and delicately formed, and the erect horns 
and high pose of the head give the animal a very 
jaunty appearance. 
In running it has three very distinct gaits. 
When fleeing from danger, it carries its head low, 
like a running sheep, and gallops by long leaps; 
when showing off, it holds its head as high as 
possible, and trots forward with stiff legs, and 
long strides, like German soldiers doing the goose- 
step. Occasionally, it gallops with high head, 
by stiff-legged leaps, like the mule deer. 
In captivity the Prong-Horn is always affec- 
tionate, trustful, and very fond of being noticed; 
but the bucks soon become too playful with their 
sharp horns, and push their human friends about 
until the play becomes more dangerous than 
amusing. They readily come at call, and at 
times become very playful with each other. 
They cannot live on the rich, green grasses of the 
country east of the Great Plains, and are very 
difficult to keep in captivity. At the New York 
Zoological Park it has been found that they sur- 
vive and breed only when kept in a paved corral, 
and fed on rolled oats, clover hay, and a very 
limited amount of fresh grass. Those who have 
attempted to preserve and breed the Prong-Horn 
in captivity have met with many discourage- 
ments, and failure has been the result of many 
experiments that deserved success. At present, 
our herd seems well established, and on June 2, 
1903, two fawns were born. 
Owing to the extreme difficulty of maintaining 
this species in captivity, its total extinction at 
an early date seems absolutely certain, unless 
it is fully and permanently protected in a wild 
state, on its native ranges, for a long period. 
To-day it exists only in small, isolated bands, 
widely scattered, in a few localities in Montana, 
Wyoming, Colorado, Kansas, Texas, New Mex- 
ico, Nevada, Idaho, Utah, Oregon and Califor- 
DISTRIBUTION OF THE PRONG-HORNED ANTELOPE IN 1903 . 
