Pronghorn Facts for Kids
Antilocapra americana · an-tih-loh-KAP-ruh uh-mair-ih-KAY-nuh
The fastest land animal in North America, and not a real antelope.
- 🏃 55 mph89 km/h1
- ⚖️ 90 to 125 lb41 to 57 kg2
- 📏 3.7 to 4.6 ft1.1 to 1.4 m2 long
- 🎂 7 to 10 years7 to 10 years2
- 🍽️ plants
- Doing fine (Least Concern)
Pronghorns are very fast runners. They live on wide, open grasslands. Their horns have a little prong.
A pronghorn is not a true antelope, and it is not a deer: it is the only animal left of its own family. Its eyes sit on the sides of its head, so it can see far in every direction across open land. It has big lungs and a big heart, and light bones and long legs, built for running.
Pronghorns share the prairie with bison, and they eat sagebrush, grasses and wildflowers. Unlike deer, which drop their antlers, a pronghorn sheds only the black outer sheath of its horns each year, and a new one grows over the bony core. Pronghorns travel long distances between summer and winter ranges, and fences can block their way, so ranchers and wildlife groups build fences that pronghorns can get under.
How big is a pronghorn?
Pronghorn in numbers
| Length | 3.7 to 4.6 ft1.1 to 1.4 m2adult |
|---|---|
| Height at the shoulder | 35 in to 3.3 ft89 cm to 1 m2at the shoulder |
| Weight | 90 to 125 lb41 to 57 kg2 |
| Top speed (running) | 55 mph89 km/h1running |
| How long it lives | 7 to 10 years7 to 10 years2average |
| What it eats | sagebrush, grasses and wildflowers |
| Where it lives | the grasslands and sagebrush deserts of western North America |
| What kind | Mammals |
| Is it in danger? | Doing fine (Least Concern)3 |
A number we couldn’t find on a page we trust says so, instead of guessing.
Wow!
- Each year a pronghorn drops the black outer sheath of its horns and grows a new one.
- A pronghorn flares the white hair on its rump to flash a warning to the herd.
- Scientists think its great speed comes from long ago, when fast hunters ran across North America.
Compare the pronghorn
Friends and neighbours
American bison
Coyote
CheetahThree questions
Books about the pronghorn, free at the library
Ask a grown-up to tap the button: it shows where to borrow a book about the pronghorn for free.
Where these numbers come from
- National Park Service, Badlands, checked 30 October 2026.
- National Park Service, Yellowstone, checked 30 October 2026.
- Wikidata, from the IUCN Red List, checked 30 October 2026.
- Wikidata, Pronghorn (Q187943), checked 30 October 2026.