Wild horses on the Nevada Wild Horse Range Herd Management Area. BLM photo.
While Return to Freedom appreciates that a greater percentage of mares were treated and released on this Herd Management Area, we do not support the BLM conducting a costly, dangerous helicopter roundup where the wild horse population is already within Appropriate Management Level – especially when the agency has voiced concern about the condition of the range elsewhere.
Day 7, Dec. 14
The Bureau of Land Management completed its roundup on the Nevada Wild Horse Range on Thursday by releasing 109 mares treated with fertility control and three foals. The agency had previously released 53 stallions for a total number released of 165.
A total of 309 wild horses were captured during the roundup. Of those, 137 were removed from their home range and shipped to the Ridgecrest (Calif.) Regional Wild Horse and Burro Corrals.
In all, seven wild horses were killed during the roundup, including three on Thursday: a 12-year-old bay mare that had suffered a fractured front radius during the roundup; a 25-year-old buckskin mare with no teeth and a 3-year-old bay mare with club foot were also put down.
Day 6, Dec. 13
The Bureau of Land Management captured 11 wild horses on Wednesday, the sixth day of the roundup. The four stallions and seven mares bring the total captured to 309.
Two wild horses were put down, a 30-year-old bay stallion and 3-year-old bay stallion, both with club foot. That brings the number of wild horses killed during the roundup to four.
Day 5, Dec. 12
The Bureau of Land Management captured 34 wild horses on Tuesday, the fifth day of the roundup. The 11 stallions, 21 mares and 2 foals bring the total captured to 298.
Two horses have been killed: On Dec. 8, a 3-year-old bay mare suffered a “fractured neck or back” and was put down, according to BLM’s gather report. On Dec. 9, an 18-year-old buckskin mare suffered a fractured right front leg during the roundup and was put down.
Day 4, Dec. 11
The Bureau of Land Management captured 141 wild horses Monday, the fourth day of the roundup. The 41 stallions, 90 mares and 10 foals bring the total captured to 264.
Two horses have been killed: On Dec. 8, a 3-year-old bay mare suffered a “fractured neck or back” and was put down, according to BLM’s gather report. On Dec. 9, an 18-year-old buckskin mare suffered a fractured right front leg during the roundup and was put down.
Background
The Bureau of Land Management started a helicopter roundup on the Nevada Wild Horse Range Herd Management Area on Dec. 8.
During the first three days of the roundup, 123 wild horses (36 stallions, 69 mares and 18 foals) have been captured about 30 miles southeast of Tonopah, Nev.
Two horses have been killed: On Friday, a 3-year-old bay mare suffered a “fractured neck or back” and was put down, according to BLM’s gather report. On Saturday, an 18-year-old buckskin mare suffered a fractured right front leg during the roundup and was put down.
The BLM plans to remove about 350 wild horses from the Herd Management Area, then return about 106 mares treated with fertility control and 106 studs back to the range.
The 1.3 million-acre Herd Management Area is located in the southern Mojave Desert on the Nevada Test and Training Range, one of two training areas within the Nellis Air Force Base Complex.
The Herd Management Area has a BLM-set “Appropriate Management Level” of 300-500 wild horses and 0 burros. Based on March population numbers, the BLM estimated there were 438 wild horses on the Herd Management Area before the roundup began.
No livestock grazing has been conducted on the Herd Management Area “since before the 1960s,” according to BLM.
The purpose of the roundup is to “prevent wild horse numbers from exceeding high-end Appropriate Management Level” and to reapply fertility control to mares, according to a press release.
The BLM is treating mares with the fertility control vaccine GonaCon Equine.
Return to Freedom strongly supports the robust use of fertility control to slow herd growth and eliminate roundups. However, we prefer the use of PZP fertility control because it has been studied and proven 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.
In 2022, BLM captured 638 wild horses in a helicopter roundup on the same Herd Management Area. The agency treated and released 133 mares with fertility control. It also released 62 stallions. Eleven horses were killed during the roundup, including eight put down for having clubfoot.
On the same Herd Management Area, BLM removed 126 wild horses in 2020 and 801 in 2018, both times failing to implement fertility control that could reduce future roundups. Of the 34 wild horses put down during those roundups, 24 were listed as having clubfoot.
While RTF appreciates that a greater percentage of mares are being treated and released, it is perplexing that the BLM would prioritize a costly roundup on a Herd Management Area where the population is within Appropriate Management Level over other areas about which the agency has voiced concern about the ecologic condition of the range above all else.
All wild horses removed from the Herd Management Area during the ongoing roundup will be shipped to Ridgecrest (Calif.) Regional Wild Horse and Burro Corrals in Ridgecrest to be prepared for adoption or sale.
Because the Nevada Wild Horse Range is inside the military’s Nevada Test and Training Range, the public is not permitted to view roundup operations.
The Nevada Wild Horse Range was established in 1962 in response to pressure from wild horse advocates from across the country. It came just three years after the passage of the Wild Horse Annie Act, which bars the use of any form of motorized vehicles as well as the poisoning of water holes done either to capture or kill wild horses and nine years before the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971, which provides some protections and gave BLM broad powers to manage wild horses and burros on public lands. The Act, as amended, allows for helicopter roundups.
To view the BLM’s planning documents, click here.