18 Wild Horses Die, 1,430 Lose Their Freedom in Nevada Roundup

The largest Bureau of Land Management (BLM) roundup in two years concluded on December 2 in the Owyhee Complex, central Nevada, with the permanent removal of 1,430 wild horses from their natural habitat. These horses were transported to the BLM’s Palomino Valley holding facility near Reno, joining nearly 46,000 other wild horses and burros in BLM holding facilities. The future of these once-wild horses is uncertain amidst growing pressure to kill or sell them for slaughter.

Scapegoating Wild Horses for Sage Grouse Habitat Damage

During the Owyhee Complex roundup, the BLM’s scapegoating of wild horses for damage to sage grouse habitat—exposed and documented by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility—was evident. The BLM used sage grouse as the justification for this massive roundup, despite authorizing ten times more cattle than wild horses to graze the same public lands in this complex.

Wildlife biologist Eric Mulvar told the Associated Press, “Suggesting that wild horses are a problem for sage grouse, while ignoring the comparatively massive impacts of cattle and sheep, is a bit like suggesting that the captain of the Titanic should be worried about the ice cubes in his passengers’ cocktails rather than the icebergs floating in the North Atlantic.”

Limiting Public Access to View Roundups

This extensive roundup was conducted in two parts. Public observation opportunities were provided for the Elko District portion of the roundup in the Owyhee and Rock Creek Herd Management Areas (HMAs). However, when the operation moved to the Winnemucca District’s Little Owyhee HMA, public observation was severely restricted. Nearly 70 percent of the 863 horses rounded up in the Little Owyhee HMA were captured out of public view, and 7 out of 8 deaths attributed to the roundup occurred on days when the public was barred from viewing.

Deaths at Roundup Just the Beginning

The BLM reports that 18 wild horses lost their lives due to this roundup. Four of these deaths were characterized as “acute” (injuries sustained due to the roundup or confinement in holding pens), while 14 horses were euthanized due to “pre-existing” conditions, including blindness, according to the BLM.

Dozens more Owyhee Complex horses will die in the days, weeks, and months following the roundup from traumatic injuries, such as broken necks and legs, illness, and metabolic conditions caused by failure to adjust to a life of confinement in feedlot pens.

A Small Step in the Right Direction

The only bright spot in this massive roundup is the release of 402 wild horses back to the range after capture. Approximately half of these horses were mares treated with the PZP 22 vaccine. American Wild Horse Conservation (formerly American Wild Horse Campaign) supports the BLM’s use of this birth control vaccine to control population growth without removals and was pleased to witness the release of 402 wild horses back to the HMA.

We sadly note, however, that each of the mares and stallions returned to the complex had been separated from their family bands, which will never be reunited since most, if not all, of their family members remain in captivity. In the future, we hope that the BLM will move toward a system for applying the PZP vaccine that keeps these social bands intact, maintaining the close bonds between horses that characterize wild horse social organization.

We also believe that the permanent removal of such a large number of horses from this HMA was unjustified. The BLM’s “appropriate” management level (AML) for the Owyhee Complex is a maximum of 999 wild horses on more than 1 million acres of public land. This AML is not based on science but rather on the preferential treatment of privately owned livestock over federally protected horses. In fact, the BLM allocates ten times more forage to livestock than wild horses in this complex.

The AMLs for wild horses in the Owyhee Complex should be raised to reflect a fairer resource allocation, and then these more sustainable population levels should be maintained through the use of humane birth control. This approach is far more cost-effective than the continued costly removal of wild horses from their homes on the range in this area.

Million Dollar Roundup

The roundup of 1,832 wild horses in the Owyhee Complex cost taxpayers at least $1.4 million, excluding the costs of warehousing 1,430 wild horses—most of them for life—in holding pens and pastures.

The massive 2016 Owyhee roundup has proven once again that the BLM’s management approach, which the National Academy of Sciences characterized as “expensive and unproductive for the BLM and the public it serves,” must undergo radical change. While the release of some horses back to the HMA is a small step in the right direction, the agency must accelerate the use of humane birth control to manage wild horses in the wild. Massive wild horse removals like the one that occurred last month in the high desert of central Nevada are inhumane, unsustainable, and must come to an end.

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