Burros captured on the Bullfrog Herd Management Area in Nevada in 2019. BLM photo.
For background information or to take action, see below.
The Bureau of Land Management captured 1,150 wild burros and killed two during a 16-day helicopter roundup that ended Wednesday, Jan. 24, on the Black Mountain Herd Management Area in Arizona.
On the roundup’s final day, 38 burros (16 jacks, 19 jennies and 3 foals) were captured.
The two burros put down earlier in the roundup were a 13-year-old jack that an on-site veterinarian believed had suffered a previously broken neck resulting in neurological issues and an 11-year-old jack with a previously broken back leg, according to BLM’s gather report.
Nearly all of the captured burros from the upcoming roundup were shipped to BLM corrals in Florence, Ariz., or Ridgecrest, Calif., to be readied for adoption or sale. As of Jan. 23, 964 burros 427 jacks, 401 jennies and 136 foals have been divided by age and gender, then shipped away from their home range.
What is likely to be a small number of jennies identified as being part of a 2017 study are to be treated and released with fertility control. As of Jan. 23, 123 of 524 jennies captured had not been shipped from the trap site.
Return to Freedom strongly supports the use of proven, safe and humane fertility control, which if used properly and robustly could reduce the size and frequency of future roundups.
Even if all 123 jennies are treated and released, the number of individuals in what was the largest burro herd in America will have been cut by more than half.
Based on March 2023 BLM estimates, the largest remaining burro herds are: 1,343 at Big Sandy Herd Management Area (Ariz.), 1,069 at Chocolate-Mule Mountains Herd Management Area (Calif.), and 970 at Lake Pleasant Herd Management Area (Ariz.).
The total range-wide population of federally protected burros in March 2023 stood at an estimated 13,955 compared to a BLM-set “Appropriate Management Level” of just 2,919.
As of November 2023, 2,046 captured burros were living in off-range holding corrals.
Compared to wild horses, a relatively large percentage of captured burros are adopted or sold each year by the BLM. From 2019-23, an average of 1,343 burros were adopted annually.
That compares to 4,683 horses adopted per year from the much larger wild horse population over the same period.
In March 2023, the BLM estimated there were 82,883 wild horses on the range (compared to an Appropriate Management Level of 23,866). As of November 2023, 59,869 captured wild horses were living in off-range corrals or on leased pastures.
Tuesday, Jan. 23
The Bureau of Land Management captured 126 wild burros from the Black Mountain Herd Management Area in Arizona. The 41 jacks, 63 jennies and 22 foals brings the total captured to 1,110.
No burros were killed on Tuesday. A total of two have been put down for what the BLM deemed pre-existing conditions.
Monday, Jan. 22
No roundup operations were conducted.
Sunday, Jan. 21
The Bureau of Land Management captured 39 wild burros from the Black Mountain Herd Management Area in Arizona. The 20 jacks, 12 jennies and seven foals bring the total captured since the roundup began to 984.
No burros were killed on Sunday. A total of two have been put down for what the BLM deemed pre-existing conditions.
Saturday, Jan. 20
The Bureau of Land Management captured 114 wild burros from the Black Mountain Herd Management Area in Arizona. The 39 jacks, 55 jennies and 20 foals bring the total captured since the roundup began to 945.
One burro was put down on Saturday: An 11-year-old jack was euthanized due to an “old break in left back leg.” The BLM gather report noted that the “animal was captured on 1/18/24 but the break was not noticed until this morning.”
A total of two burros have been put down since the roundup began.
Friday, Jan. 19
No roundup operations were conducted.
Thursday, Jan. 18
The Bureau of Land Management captured 171 wild burros from the Black Mountain Herd Management Area in Arizona. The 51 jacks, 95 jennies and 25 foals bring the total number captured to 831.
No deaths were reported on Thursday. One burro was put down a day earlier.
Wednesday, Jan. 17
The Bureau of Land Management captured 143 wild burros from the Black Mountain Herd Management Area in Arizona. The 61 jacks, 69 jennies and 13 foals bring the total number captured to 660.
The first death of the roundup was reported on Wednesday: A 13-year-old jack was euthanized due to “old break in neck.” The BLM gather report added that “animal had possible neurological issues per veterinarian on site.”
Tuesday, Jan. 16
The Bureau of Land Management captured 76 wild burros from the Black Mountain Herd Management Area in Arizona. The 23 jacks, 40 jennies and 13 foals bring the total number captured to 517.
No burros have been killed during the roundup so far.
Monday, Jan. 15
The Bureau of Land Management captured 90 wild burros from the Black Mountain Herd Management Area in Arizona. The 53 jacks, 25 jennies and 12 foals bring the total number captured to 441.
No burros have been killed during the roundup so far.
Sunday, Jan. 14
The Bureau of Land Management captured 69 wild burros from the Black Mountain Herd Management Area in Arizona. The 25 jacks, 31 jennies and 13 foals the total captured since the roundup began to 351.
No burros have been killed during the roundup so far.
Saturday, Jan. 13
The Bureau of Land Management captured 63 wild burros from the Black Mountain Herd Management Area in Arizona. The 22 jacks, 31 jennies and 10 foals the total captured since the roundup began to 282.
No burros have been killed during the roundup so far.
Friday, Jan. 12
The Bureau of Land Management captured 60 wild burros from the Black Mountain Herd Management Area in Arizona. The 29 jacks, 25 jennies and six foals the total captured since the roundup began to 219.
No burros have been killed during the roundup so far.
Thursday, Jan. 11
The Bureau of Land Management captured 55 wild burros from the Black Mountain Herd Management Area in Arizona. The 34 jacks, 19 jennies and four foals brings the total captured since the roundup began to 159.
No burros have been killed during the roundup so far.
Wednesday, Jan. 10
The Bureau of Land Management captured 24 wild burros from the Black Mountain Herd Management Area. The 17 jacks, four jennies and three foals brough the total number captured to 104.
No burros have been killed during the roundup so far.
Tuesday, Jan. 9
The Bureau of Land Management captured 80 wild burros from the Black Mountain Herd Management Area on the first day of the roundup. No burros were killed.
Background
The Bureau of Land Management is set to capture and remove 1,000 wild burros from the Black Mountain Herd Management Area in Mohave County, Ariz., starting on or about Monday, Jan. 8.
The helicopter roundup is expected to take up to eight weeks to complete. The BLM’s stated reason for the roundup is “to address herd health and impacts to rangeland health, wildlife habitat and roadway safety concerns associated with herd overpopulation.”
The Black Mountain burro herd is the largest in the country and is enjoyed by tourists along historic Route 66 — especially in the old mining town of Oatman, Ariz., where burros have become habituated to people.
Return to Freedom has a special connection with Black Mountain burros. The sanctuary rescued a dozen in 2015. Four that arrived pregnant later gave birth. That herd roams the hills at our San Luis Obispo, Calif., satellite sanctuary.
The BLM estimates that there are currently about 1,925 burros on the 1.1 million-acre Black Mountain Herd Management Area, located in a hot, dry region where summer temperatures top 120 degrees.
The BLM-set population target, or “Appropriate Management Level,” for Black Mountain is 382-478 burros, or as low as one burro for every 2,880 acres.
By comparison, the BLM allows up to an annual equivalent of 1,220 cow-calf pairs of private livestock to graze on 10 allotments that completely or partly overlap the burro Herd Management Area.
The agency also allows a varying amount of seasonal livestock grazing on six additional allotments in years of abundant forage production, according to a 2020 Environmental Assessment.
The BLM’s stated reasons for the roundup also include that the burro population “can double in size every five years … if not appropriately managed.”
Despite that, the BLM plans to treat with fertility control and release only jennies that were part of a four-year Humane Society of the United States / BLM study that began with 109 jennies in 2017. Any of those jennies captured will receive either booster doses of PZP fertility control or an initial dose if they were previously part of the control group.
Return to Freedom strongly supports the use of proven, safe and humane fertility control, which if used properly and robustly could reduce the size and frequency of future roundups.
In 2022, the BLM removed 1,629 out of what was then an estimated 3,000 burros from Black Mountain in bait-and-trap and helicopter roundups. It treated and released just 44 jennies with fertility control — a number too low to slow herd growth in a significant way.
Also in 2022, the BLM captured and removed an additional 106 Black Mountain burros that it said had wandered onto private property.
In 2020 and 2021, the BLM removed a combined total of 984 burros from Black Mountain using traps baited with feed or water. It treated no jennies with fertility control.
The captured burros from the upcoming roundup will be shipped to BLM corrals in Florence, Ariz., or Ridgecrest, Calif., to be readied for adoption or sale.
To view the BLM’s planning documents, click here.
Take Action
Send a letter to Congress in support of safe proven and humane fertility control that can end wild horse and burro roundups