This is a pronghorn – a North American ungulate that isn’t quite sure whether it wants to be an antelope or a goat. Indeed its scientific name translates from Latin to mean ‘American goat-antelope’. Despite looking like it just wandered out of the South African grasslands, it is not related to African antelope and is the only surviving member of the Antilocapridae family. Its closest evolutionary relative is the giraffe.

I was drawn (hah) to them initially because I thought their horns were pretty cool, but they turned out to be truly intriguing creatures in many other ways. Their interesting taxonomy aside, it turns out they are the second fastest land mammal in the world after cheetahs. Their great speed is thought to be as a result of co-evolution with American Cheetahs of old.

Overhunting in the past along with human expansion destroying their habitats and interrupting their migratory routes have majorly impacted their populations, and they are endangered.

This was the part of a series of paintings for “Vulnerable Animals Week” – highlighting one threatened animals species from each continent.

Dimensions – 20x20cm. An original watercolour & ink illustration.

Media – watercolour (Daniel Smith) & ink on 300gsm hot press 100% cotton paper (Saunders Waterford). The silver embellishments are painted with silver metallic ink.

All original paintings come signed with a Certificate of Authenticity.

Prices exclude shipping and framing. Please note that due to variability in screen colour display, there may appear to be some difference in colour between the image & the original painting.