Media Update: Day 3 of Largest Wild Horse Roundup in History

Wyoming Wild Horse Roundup

October 9, 2021

The largest wild horse roundup in U.S. history commenced in the Wyoming Checkerboard area on October 7, 2021. This operation is expected to continue into February, with 43 horses captured to date. However, Day 3 of the operation was canceled due to high winds.

• The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) aims to capture more than 4,000 federally-protected wild horses from five Herd Management Areas (HMAs): Little Colorado, White Mountain, Great Divide Basin, Salt Wells Creek, and Adobe Town. Of these, 3,550 wild horses are targeted for permanent removal from the wild.
• This massive action is a precursor to the eradication of most of the wild horse population in this area.
• Captured horses are being transported to the BLM’s holding pens in Rock Springs and a new, privately-operated 3,500-horse storage location in Wheatland, WY, on 100 acres of private land owned by ZimMetal and Welding, Inc.
• These formerly free-roaming animals, accustomed to traveling 10 or 20 miles a day, will be separated by sex and confined in feedlot pens providing 700 square feet of space per horse.
• Roundup operations are currently taking place in the Great Divide Basin HMA, located in the Red Desert northeast of Rock Springs.
• The BLM aims to remove 1,124 wild horses from this HMA, leaving just 451 horses on 776,000 acres (1 horse per 1,721 acres).
• Cattoor Livestock Roundups is the helicopter contractor for this portion of the roundup. Cattoor has earned tens of millions of dollars from government contracts to round up wild horses over the last three decades.
• Allegations of animal welfare violations have followed this contractor for years, including a recent roundup in Colorado where tiny foals were left alone on the range after their mothers were captured.
• American Wild Horse Conservation (formerly American Wild Horse Campaign) is working with two observers onsite: Scott Wilson of Wilson Axpe Photography and Lynn Hanson of Lynn Hanson Photography. Follow their reports on Instagram and Facebook: @FreeWildHorses and AmericanWildHorseCampaign.org.

Additional Resources:

From the American Wild Horse Conservation

• Wyoming Checkerboard Roundup: Key Facts Q&A
• Daily Roundup Reports
• Press Releases & Media Updates

From the BLM

• Daily Reports
• EA for the Checkerboard Roundup
• EIS on Checkerboard Wild Horse Eradication Plan
• EA for Wheatland Wild Horse Holding Facility