Pronking Pronghorn

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loboLoco
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Pronking Pronghorn

Post by loboLoco » Thu Mar 02, 2023 11:41 am



We've got a new animal joining the WolfQuest gang: pronghorn!

Pronghorn, sometimes called American antelope (though they’re not actually antelope) are fairly common animals in the northern range of Yellowstone. We’ve seen them many times in our trips there. But for WolfQuest, they’ve been lower priority for one simple reason: wolves don't eat them very much. Why not? Because they're very hard to catch! Pronghorns evolved in the very different world of the Pleistocene, when they had to outrun much faster predators, like the American Cheetah. Those predators went extinct long ago — but the pronghorn keeps on going, sprinting as fast at 55 mph (90 km/h).

But we’ve finally gotten to it, and this week’s devblog gives you a first look at our pronghorn. Created by a new artist on our team, Lise from Sweden, these pronghorn will be found in the Lamer Valley and lower-elevation grasslands. Like mule deer and elk, pronghorns form herds of different sizes and compositions over the course of a year. In the winter, they head to lower elevations and you won't find many around in the game map — which isn’t much of a problem, since wolves don't generally bother hunting adults. It's the fawns that are a more tempting target, both as newborns hiding in the grass, and later in the summer when they are ambulatory — not easy
to catch, but possible.

Other interesting things about pronghorn:

* They are distantly related to deer, and much more closely related to giraffes and okapi.
* Bucks have a pronged horn, while does have just a little stubby horn, if any at all. Generally, animals with horns keep them year-round, but pronghorns shed their horns each winter and then grow it back in the spring.
* The fastest land animal in the western hemisphere, pronghorns can sprint 55 mph (90 km/h) for half a mile (800m), and they can run 42 mph (68 km/h) for a mile (1.5km), and can sustain 35 mph (56 km/h)) for four miles (6.5km). In contrast wolves (and elk) usually run about 35 mph (56 km/h), with somewhat faster sprints for short durations.
* When detecting danger, pronghorns raise the hair on their rumps, making it a larger white area that alerts the herd of the threat.

Pronghorns will be in the next game update, but that won’t be for awhile. We have much still to do on them, along with many other things currently in-progress. But it won’t be too long before you too, can watch that white rump recede into the distance as it flees from your wolf.

Recommended videos:
* Wolf chasing a pronghorn fawn (and check out other great Yellowstone wildlife videos on the "Yellowstone Twins" YouTube channel)
* Pronghorns: Experts in Speed and Sight from American Prairie.

_________________________

The WolfQuest saga will continue! Stay tuned for more news in upcoming devblogs about it and other new features!

Once the game is completed on PC/Mac, we will turn our attention to other platforms.

We do not announce specific release dates. We will release them when they are ready.
Dave/loboLoco
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Re: Pronking Pronghorn

Post by Wolfie-WolfquestFan » Thu Mar 02, 2023 2:29 pm

:wolf:
So cool! I’m exited for the new dreams and to try hunting the pronghorn! These devblogs are getting really exciting! The pronghorn facts are really cool. Keep up the good work!!
:wolf:

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Re: Pronking Pronghorn

Post by CrazyCoyote » Thu Mar 02, 2023 4:43 pm

oh I am going to go full Wile E >:3

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Re: Pronking Pronghorn

Post by Mikaylawolf2 » Wed Mar 08, 2023 6:59 pm

Wow I actually didn’t know pronghorn existed but it looks cool and fast too :D

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Re: Pronking Pronghorn

Post by -Wolfdog- » Sat Mar 11, 2023 11:08 am

Yes!!! This is what I've been waiting for! I'm very excited to have both pronghorn and bighorn sheep in WolfQuest :)

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Re: Pronking Pronghorn

Post by Invar » Thu Apr 06, 2023 7:49 pm

Fun stuff.

Horns are modified hair. This is pretty hard to see with a cow horn or a water-buffalo horn, but if you find a pronghorn horn, it's really obvious and fun to look at.

Pronghorn, like a lot of ungulates, are very curious. My dad's a botanist and when he was working in the arctic he'd be kneeling down looking at some tiny tiny arctic flower, and often when he'd look up he'd discover a ring of caribou or musk oxen all staring at him. Because they'd never seen a human on its hands and knees, and like to check out anything weird.

When I was a kid, I would sometimes go out on the prairie where there were pronghorn and stand on my head. They'd stare, and come closer and closer to look. I probably could have touched them if I'd been able to stand on my head and lift an arm without falling over.

This doesn't work any more, there's too much weird stuff like blowing litter and people walking and people on bikes etc, nothing humans do seems to interest them any more. I bet if would still work somewhere with fewer people. There's some historic record of native peoples hunting pronghorn by tying feathers to a pole and waiting for the pronghorn to come look.

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Re: Pronking Pronghorn

Post by DinoDogDude209 » Tue Apr 18, 2023 2:10 pm

Oh boy, I've been hoping that Pronghorn would be added to this game for a long time. It'll be so awesome to be able to find them in the game now! It'll be so awesome and immersive to be able to find them in the Lamar Valley, since I saw them there in real life when I went to Yellowstone in 2020.

I haven't played WQ in quite a while, so it'll definitely be refreshing to jump back into it and try to hunt a new animal while I'm at it! Now all we need is those long-awaited Bighorn Sheep and some larger herds of Bison with cows and calves, and then we'll be able to find all of the most iconic Yellowstone ungulates in the game! Great work as always WQ devs, you never cease to amaze me with your hard work and dedication.

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