LARAMIE, Wyo. (AP) — Scientists in Wyoming have launched a six-year study of the effect of wind-energy development on pronghorn antelopes.

Officials from the Wyoming Game and Fish Department and the Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit fitted 80 pronghorn does with GPS collars in the Shirley Basin between Laramie and Casper.

North of nearby Medicine Bow, the 500-megawatt TB Flats Wind Energy Project is scheduled to be built on 81 square miles of land over the next two years.

The scientists plan to study the herd to see whether their seasonal movements and habitat use change because of the new wind turbines.

Game and Fish biologist Lee Knox says scientists want a definitive study that will help plan for future wind farms if there is an effect.

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