Winter census data shows the northeastern population of pronghorn at an estimated 4,230 animals, the third year in a row the count has been under 5,000 and still nearly 3,000 animals below its contemporary high count of 7,900 recorded in 1992. The DFG said some animals may have been missed during census flights, but pointed out that antelope numbers remain below expectations.

The Region 1 office said the latest tally is expected to result in up to a 60 percent cut in the number of tags available through public drawing for hunting. Hunters last year drew 571 tags for general and archery hunting in Modoc, Lassen, Siskiyou and Shasta counties, bagging 355 animals.

The overall hunter success rate of 69 percent was the lowest since 1974. The DFG said the quota adjustment would be aimed at reversing a three-year population decline, increasing the average age of animals in the herds and rebuilding hunter success to the traditional 80-percent level.

Fish and Game estimated 3,000 of the northeastern area's nearly 8,000 pronghorn died of starvation during the severe 1992-93 winter. Snow as deep as three feet prevented antelope, deer and other wildlife from reaching food.

Prior to the 1992-93 winter, the northeastern pronghorn numbers had been on a steady increase, going from fewer than 3,000 animals in 1970 to nearly 8,000 in 22 years. Hunting took place annually during the population growth.

Biologists puzzled by the recent pronghorn numbers speculate that the inability of antelope to rebuild their northeastern herd numbers over the past six years is linked to continued degradation of high desert habitats of the northeast. They also point out that hunting pressure may have been too high over the last half of the 1990s to facilitate a speedier comeback.

Invasive non-native plants such as cheatgrass, untimely fires in plant communities that do not benefit from fire and the relentless spread of juniper trees are cited as possible causes of declining food sources. Antelope, the speediest of North American land mammals, depend on low shrub and forb communities for their food.