Bible Spring Complex & Sulphur HMA 2018 Roundup: A Detailed Account
August 2, 2018
Yesterday, American Wild Horse Conservation (formerly American Wild Horse Campaign) staff was onsite to document the first day of the Bible Springs Complex/Sulphur roundup in Utah. 37 wild horses were captured, most brought off of private lands.
August 3, 2018
Yesterday, 42 horses were captured and removed from the Bible Springs complex in Utah. There was one death after a stud came in with a previously injured front leg and was euthanized.
August 4, 2018
Yesterday at Day 3 of the Bible Springs Complex/Sulphur HMA roundup, the BLM removed 33 horses from Indian Peaks Wildlife Management Area adjacent to the Sulphur HMA. There were two deaths.
Horses raced by at full speed in attempts to escape the helicopter pursuit. There are a lot of trees in the mountains here making it difficult to trap the horses, allowing several bands to escape.
Our team watched as a band stallion managed to escape the trap, stopping on the mountain looking back at his band now in the traps, before making his final departure out of the area.
August 5, 2018
Yesterday, the BLM rounded up 11 horses from Indian Peaks Wildlife Management Area adjacent to the Sulphur HMA. Most of the horses have been able to escape capture. They gave up on the trap site and will move to a new location today.
The vast majority of the horses that have been removed from this range have Henneke Body Scores of 5 - a perfectly fit horse. They are not starving.
The BLM has increased the number of horses being rounded up removed from the area to 250 instead of the original 200 previously scheduled.
August 6, 2018
Yesterday the BLM rounded up and removed 22 wild horses from the southern portion of the Sulphur HMA. Many of the runs were chaotic. There was an abundance of cows grazing within the federally-designated wild horse habitat, so many, that a few cows got rounded up in the process. The release of the cows from the trap where these horses had just lost their freedom symbolizes the injustice of this program.
According to the BLM's Environmental Assessment, the agency allows the equivalent of 1,261 cow/calf pairs to graze during the spring and summer months within this HMA. Meanwhile, they only allow 165-250 wild horses. In the entire state of Utah, the BLM allows livestock to graze on 22 million acres, and only 2 million of those are also designated as wild horse habitat. #BLMAbuse
August 7, 2018
Yesterday, the BLM rounded up 30 wild horses. The helicopters flew dangerously close to terrified wild horses and were stampeding them directly towards barbed wire, which caused at least one horse to flip over the fence. This is extremely dangerous, inhumane and likely in violation of the Comprehensive Animal Welfare Policies.
August 8, 2018
Yesterday, the BLM captured 57 horses from the Four Mile Herd Management Area -- with NO PUBLIC OBSERVERS PRESENT. The agency had told the public that the roundup was cancelled for the day, however, they went ahead and rounded up more horses yesterday than any other day of the roundup — out of public view.
August 9, 2018
The Bible Spring Complex/Sulphur HMA roundup officially ended yesterday with 21 more horses captured and removed. The final number captured and removed was 250, and there were 4 deaths. Our team now heads to Wyoming this week to document the ongoing roundup of wild horses from the Red Desert Complex.
Press Release
- Wild Horse Group Calls for Halt to Utah Mustang Roundup Amidst Evidence of Animal Welfare Violations
Media Coverage
- U.S. Is Killing Wild Horses For The Worst Reason
- Group calls for investigation into horse roundup in Utah
- Utah wild horses ran into barbed wire during aerial roundup; four animals with pre-existing injuries were euthanized
- Shocking Photos Show What the U.S. Government Is Doing to Wild Horses Because of the ‘Threat’ They Pose to Cattle
- Claims of mistreatment of wild horses invokes cries to halt roundup