The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announced plans for wild horse and burro gathers in fiscal year 2022 to combat overpopulation, reduce starvation and decrease habitat destruction as drought plagues the West.
In 2022, BLM is slated to gather 22,000 wild horses and burros, remove 19,000 animals and treat at least 2,300 animals with fertility control measures. This will be the most significant number of animals gathered and removed in one year and the highest number treated with fertility controls, if enacted. BLM gathered 13,600 animals, placed 8,637 in private care and treated 1,160 with fertility controls in 2021.
“The BLM is committed to the safety of the wild horses and burros entrusted to our care,” said BLM Director Tracy Stone-Manning. “Our gather efforts, handling standards and fertility control work are guided by our compassion for these animals and our desire to protect their well-being, as well as the health of our public lands.”
According to BLM, the nationwide population as of March 2021 for wild horses and burros was 86,189 animals—more than three times the appropriate management level (AML), though slightly less than the 95,000 animals that were estimated in 2020. If not managed, wild horse and burro herds can increase 20 percent annually and double in four years, leading to the risk of starvation and thirst.
Extreme drought conditions across the West last summer triggered emergency actions to gather more than 7,000 wild horses and burros—more than seven times the amount gathered through emergency actions in 2020, according to BLM.
The announcement is part of a multiyear effort to reduce wild horse and burro populations to maintain AMLs on public lands using horse gathers, adoption programs and fertility controls. In November 2021, the agency announced it was accepting proposals for new research projects to develop safe, effective and longer-lasting fertility control methods for wild horse mares.
“The BLM is committed to finding the best, most effective and most humane ways to manage and protect wild horses and burros on public lands,” Stone-Manning said. “Using the best available science to humanely and safely control herd growth will reduce the need to gather excess animals and help protect the health of wild horses and burros, improve wildlife habitat and save taxpayers money.”
The total expenditures for the program in fiscal year 2021 were approximately $112 million.
Shortly after the announcement, BLM issued efforts to control wild horse and burro populations in Nevada. On Dec. 17, 2021, it concluded the gathering of 82 wild horses in the Fox and Lake Range Herd Management Area near Gerlach, NV. The BLM removed 23 excess wild horses from public lands, and 37 were administered the population suppression control vaccine, GonaCon-Equine, with a second dose in 30 days.
“The agency’s top research priority remains the development of safe, practical, effective and long-lasting fertility control methods for wild horses and burros,” said BLM Black Rock Field Office Manager Mark Hall.
Fertility control measures will also be used in the gathering of 223 wild horses in the Desatoya Herd Management Area, located approximately 77 miles east of Fallon, NV. BLM will treat 43 mares with GonaCon-Equine and release them with 30 stallions after being evaluated. Approximately 150 excess wild horses identified for removal will be transported to the Palomino Valley Adoption Center in Reno, NV, where a veterinarian will check them to prepare for adoption. — Charles Wallace, WLJ editor
