
A helicopter pursues wild horses during a 2018 roundup on the Triple B Complex. BLM photo.
The Bureau of Land Management is set to begin a helicopter roundup on Nov. 1 with the goal of removing 2,155 wild horses from their home range in the Triple B Complex, located in Elko and White Pine Counties in Nevada.
Another 100 wild horses are to be captured and eventually released: “up to” 50 mares after being treated with fertility control and a similar number of stallions.
The Triple B Complex illustrates the failure of BLM’s decades-long attempt to meet the population targets it sets by focusing on capture and removal.
Despite the removal of 3,075 horses and deaths of another 48 during roundups over the past five years, the BLM estimates the current population is 3,319 horses — 738 more than in 2019.
During the same span, the BLM treated at most 50 mares with fertility control.
The BLM-set “Appropriate Management Level” (population target) for the complex is 482-821 horses.
The agency’s stated purpose for the upcoming roundup: There is “currently is not enough water and/or forage, both for short and long-term management, to support the number of horses in the area, and to prevent further degradation of public lands by helping to balance herd size.”
The Triple B Complex is made up of three Herd Management Areas totaling about 1.6 million rugged acres of public and private land within the Great Basin Desert. The largest of the HMAs, Triple B, covers 1.2 million acres and is located about 30 miles northwest of Ely, Nev.
The current population of wild horse on the complex is an estimated at 3,319 wild horses. The BLM-set “Appropriate Management Level” (population target) for the complex is 482-821 wild horses, or as low as one horse for every 3,337 acres.
The Triple B Complex is also used for seasonal and some year-round grazing of privately owned cattle and sheep — up to an annual equivalent of 7,269 cow-calf pairs. Actual-use numbers have been lower in recent years, according to BLM’s seven-year-old planning documents.
Now, the BLM aims to put another 2,155 wild horses into short- and long-term government holding facilities, adding to the more than 66,236 captured wild horses and burros in holding as of Sept. 23. The agency is spending more than $297,000 per day to warehouse horses and burros.
We strongly support the implementation of a robust fertility control program that would slow (not stop) reproduction and result in fewer wild horses entering off-range holding facilities. More fertility control-treated horses would be returned to the range after any planned BLM roundup.
There would be a slower reduction in population numbers than the agency seeks, but there would be cost savings down the line that could be reinvested in the fertility control program, range restoration, and more.
It’s important to note that the BLM intends to treat mares with GonaCon Equine fertility control. Because GonaCon interrupts the hormone cascade, it may cause other behavioral changes that would affect herd dynamics. As such, we would like to see more studies to ensure that GonaCon meets the parameters of ethical and thoughtful wildlife fertility control.
We prefer the use of PZP fertility control to stabilize herd numbers. It has been studied and proven (including at our sanctuary) safe, effective, and humane over the longest period of time and in the greatest number of horses, including, importantly, the greatest number of horses in free-roaming situations.
Recent agency actions on the Triple B Complex:
- In 2019, the BLM estimated that the number of horses was 2,581. It removed 787 wild horses and killed 16 in a helicopter roundup while opting not to administer any fertility control.
- In 2020, the BLM conducted an “emergency” bait-and-trap removal of 391 wild horses from the Triple B and Maverick Medicine Herd Management Areas, two of the three HMAs within the complex, due to what the agency said was a lack of water and the declining health of the horses. Nine wild horses were killed. None received fertility control.
- In 2022, the BLM rounded up and removed 1,897 wild horses, killing 23, in a helicopter roundup. The agency was to treat “up to 50” mares with fertility control, but it did not post a number of mares treated in its online roundup report.
Viewing the roundup
The BLM will escort interested members of the public to observation sites. They must RSVP to (775) 296-0679 by 5:30 p.m. the night before the intended observation date. They will receive a call back no later than 9 p.m. with the observation schedule, meeting time and location.
Take Action
Send a letter to Congress supporting the use of fertility control to end capture-and-removal