Antelope Island

Antelope Island, with an area of 42 square miles (109 km²), is the largest island of 10 islands located within the Great Salt Lake. Antelope Island is surrounded by the Great Salt Lake. The lake is extremely salty, with salt levels reaching as much as 25% of the lake, by volume, so Great Salt Lake does not support fish, but does support large numbers of Brine Shrimp,which provide food for visiting waterfowl. Because of the high salinity, the island is mostly without readily available fresh water.
We spent close to 90 minutes driving around the hill roads on the island as well as visiting the museum there. We saw more than a handful of bison and antelopes grazing on the islands slopes. We also saw some deer and two coyotes. I was particularly enthralled to see bisons in the wild. These animals are native to America and there was a time when hundreds of thousands of these majestic animals roamed freely across the country. Colonisation during the last few hundred years led to large scale slaughter of these herds. There was danger of these animals becoming extinct. Bisons are now classified as endangeried and are a protected species. The bison herd at Antelope Island now numbers around 700 and this is an optimim number. Any bisons in excess number are hunted and culled every year.

An elusive coyote

Antelope Herds



Pronghorn Antelope - above and below