The pronghorn tops out at speeds around 60 miles per hour, securing its place as the fastest land animal in North America and the second-fastest on Earth behind the cheetah. As utility-scale solar energy expands across the western United States, this iconic species faces new obstacles. Recent field research published in Ecological Solutions and Evidence by scientists at Western EcoSystems Technology (WEST) reveals that large solar developments significantly alter pronghorn movement, causing animals to avoid areas near perimeter fencing and disrupting historical habitat connectivity.
Tracking Pronghorn Movement Around Utility-Scale Solar
According to research led by WEST principal biologist Hall Sawyer, utility-scale solar developments change how large mammals use surrounding rangelands. While solar arrays lack the heavy traffic and loud noise associated with traditional industrial development, tracking data shows that pronghorn distribution drops noticeably after construction. Before development at a studied site in Wyoming, 10 percent of all tracked pronghorn locations fell within 0.75 kilometers of the future footprint. After construction, that avoidance distance more than doubled, pushing animals out to 1.75 kilometers.
Additional metrics from the study indicate that high-use habitat areas near the facilities declined by 40 to 60 percent within one kilometer of the solar arrays. Perimeter encounter rates dropped to one-third of their pre-construction levels.
Design-Based Mitigation and the Wildlife Corridor Challenge
Most modern solar projects employ design-based mitigation strategies, such as leaving open movement corridors or dividing arrays into smaller units. These measures assume that pronghorn will continue to navigate spaces adjacent to or between solar arrays. However, the data shows that animals frequently avoid the facilities altogether, calling the effectiveness of current mitigation designs into question.
Observations in northern New Mexico provide additional context regarding how pronghorn interact with physical infrastructure. Researchers monitoring collared animals near new panel installations noted that pronghorn often approach perimeter fencing rather than turning away immediately. Built for flat-out speed on open plains without natural vertical obstacles, pronghorn typically seek gaps underneath barriers rather than attempting to jump them like deer. When panel layouts leave wide passages between arrays, animals thread through the open lanes, effectively turning infrastructure gaps into movement routes. Conversely, long, narrow slots between arrays read as traps, leading herds to bypass them entirely.
Balancing Renewable Energy Growth and Biodiversity
The expansion of solar energy stems largely from economic shifts in global manufacturing. A steep drop in photovoltaic module prices—driven by high production volumes—has made sprawling, multi-acre solar projects economically attractive for developers across the American West. At the same time, this land conversion creates a conservation dilemma.
As Sawyer noted, the transition to renewable energy represents a classic catch-22. While mitigating climate change is essential for preserving global biodiversity, utility-scale solar projects require vast land areas, which can fragment critical wildlife habitats. Once rangelands are split by continuous fencing and avoidance zones, fewer animals can persist on the landscape. Researchers emphasize that post-construction monitoring remains vital to verify whether design features actually maintain migration routes as intended.