Their expansion could put more pressure on native wildlife already facing challenges from a warming climate.
The animals, called gemsbok, are native to Africa and known for their long, straight horns. They were first brought to the Albuquerque Zoo in the 1960s, and their offspring were later released into the wild in southern New Mexico to establish a population for hunting. Gemsbok are still hunted in New Mexico. The state offers limited-entry hunts at White Sands Missile Range.
Since then, they've spread across the southern part of the state. But researchers at the University of Illinois found that warming temperatures could make parts of Arizona, Utah and southern Nevada suitable for the antelope, and potentially as far north as Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho and Montana.
“As winters are becoming more warm, they're able to kind of stay in these areas where they wouldn't have been able to historically persist,” said Nathan Alexander, who led the study.
Gemsbok are already well-suited to the Southwest's dry conditions. They can survive with relatively little water, getting much of what they need from the plants they eat. But their potential expansion could create new challenges for native wildlife. In New Mexico, gemsbok have already raised concerns about damage to native vegetation, prompting the National Park Service to build a fence to keep them out of White Sands National Park.
There’s also concern about competition with native animals, including pronghorn. Previous research has found significant overlap in what the two animals eat, although it’s unclear how much that competition is affecting pronghorn populations, which are already facing growing pressures as climate change makes parts of the West hotter and drier.
There's also the question of whether gemsbok can actually reach those new areas.
Alexander said mountains, highways and other barriers could slow or prevent their spread. In fact, some places already have suitable habitat for the animals, but they haven't been recorded there.
That makes it difficult to predict when — or even if — gemsbok might establish populations in other Western states.
Still, Alexander said, the findings show how climate change could reshape wildlife habitat across the region, potentially giving some nonnative species room to expand while adding pressure on animals already living there.
This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Boise State Public Radio, Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, KUNR in Nevada, KUNC in Northern Colorado, KANW in New Mexico, Colorado Public Radio and KJZZ in Arizona as well as NPR, with support from affiliate newsrooms across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Eric and Wendy Schmidt.
