Together with Arizona Fish and Game, the Sonora Commission of Ecology and Sustainable Development (CEDES), and the National Commission on Natural Protected Areas (CONANP), researchers have been conducting an aerial census of the endangered Sonoran pronghorn (berrendo), are conducting flyovers across the Pinacate Biosphere Reserve (Nov 27-29) and Quitovac (Dec 11-15).
The census flight, which takes place every two years and are among activities of the Sonoran Pronghorn Recovery Team, extended across the entire Pinacate Reserve and to Mina Quitovac (to the East of the Reserve), detects male and female pronghorn and their young. The flight crew included three pilots along with three biologists from Arizona Fish and Game, three from CEDES, and another three from the Reserve.
Though still endangered, the Sonoran Pronghorn population has been on a path to recovery since 2000, and while current numbers have not yet been reported, the population reached its highest point in 2015 with approximately 117 individuals recorded in the Reserve, and 1050 in the entire study area across Sonora and Arizona.
Photos courtesy of Miguel Grajeda, Recursos Naturales de la CONANP
