BLM to Remove 100 Horses from South Steens HMA

Captured Mares Could Become Subjects of Sterilization Experiments

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has announced plans to bait trap 200 wild horses from the South Steens Herd Management Area (HMA) in Oregon. The agency will "selectively remove" 100 of these horses for adoption and will return the rest to the range after vaccinating approximately 40 mares with fertility control.

The captured horses will be sent to the Burns Corrals, where it's likely that many of the mares will become subjects of the BLM's highly controversial and dangerous sterilization experiments.

The agency needs pregnant mares for these experiments, and most of the mares currently housed at the facility have already delivered their foals. The South Steens mares are likely to be pregnant coming off the range, so they will be convenient research subjects for the experiments, which will cause many to abort their unborn foals.

The colorful South Steens mustangs are known as "the Hollywood Herd" because of their popularity with photographers and wildlife watchers.

Although the BLM's decision to use bait trapping for the roundup instead of helicopters, and to remove only adoptable animals, could be seen as a step in the right direction, the prospect that many of the mares could be used in the agency's inhumane sterilization experiments makes this agency action highly objectionable.