Pronghorn don't jump fences. They just stop. That single fact nearly wiped them out of West Texas, and it's the reason Borderlands Research Institute exists.
In this episode of the Building Texas Show, host Justin McKenzie sits down in Alpine with Lalo Gonzalez, chair of the Department of Natural Sciences at Sul Ross State University, to talk about how BRI helped rebuild the West Texas pronghorn population after decades of decline. Habitat fragmentation and brush encroachment cut pronghorn off from the open land they need to feel safe, so starting in 2010, Texas Parks and Wildlife and local landowners translocated roughly a thousand animals from the Panhandle and started lowering fence lines to knee height so pronghorn could walk underneath instead of turning back.
Lalo also breaks down what's brought New World screwworm back into Texas after the U.S. eradicated it decades ago with sterile-fly releases, why desert bighorn sheep are now facing pneumonia for the first time in state history, and what it actually means that Texas is 95% privately owned land — which is to say, conservation here runs through ranchers and landowners like Nyle Maxwell, not around them.
If you've ever wondered what a career in wildlife biology looks like outside a classroom, this one's for you. BRI's graduate students get a 95% job placement rate, tuition support, and a stipend, and their classroom is several million acres of West Texas ranch land.
0:00 – Why pronghorn won't cross a fence
0:20 – Welcome to Alpine, Texas
1:05 – How Lalo ended up at Sul Ross
2:37 – Why West Texas pronghorn nearly disappeared
7:16 – The landowners who made the comeback possible
8:36 – Beyond pronghorn: desert bighorn, quail, black bears, and more
10:14 – Who actually does this research
11:19 – The West Texas challenges nobody's talking about
13:13 – Inside the Texas screwworm outbreak
16:30 – How to get involved with BRI
18:06 – Why Sul Ross is a hands-on wildlife biology program
22:16 – Closing thoughts
About Borderlands Research Institute
BRI is a research and outreach institute housed at Sul Ross State University in Alpine, Texas, focused on wildlife and habitat conservation across the Trans-Pecos and greater Big Bend region — from pronghorn and desert bighorn sheep to grassland birds, soil health, and hydrology. Learn more, donate, or find upcoming events at bri.sulross.edu.
Thank you Borderlands Research Institute for this incredible footage and photography.
About the Building Texas Show
The Building Texas Show profiles the people, businesses, and institutions shaping the state — one region, one conversation at a time.
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