National Wild Horse Facts: Understanding Their Habitat and Challenges

Wild Horse Management

December 4, 2015

Author

AWHC Contributor

National Wild Horse Facts

Updated 12/16/15

Wild horses in the United States face significant challenges, including habitat reduction and competition with livestock for grazing resources. This article provides an overview of the current state of wild horses, highlighting key statistics and facts.

Habitat Reduction

Habitat for wild horses has been reduced by nearly 40 percent.

1971: Wild horses and burros were found on 42.5 million acres of BLM land in the U.S.
Today: Wild horses and burros exist on just 26.9 million acres.
Net loss: 15.6 million acres (37% of original habitat).
Source: BLM

Livestock vs. Horses on Federal Rangelands

Wild horses on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and Forest Service lands are protected under federal law. On these lands combined:

Over 1 million cow/calf pairs and just over 33,000 wild horses and burros are allowed to graze.
The BLM and FS authorize 30 times more cattle than wild horses and burros to graze on federal land.
Wild horses & burros are present on just 17% of BLM land grazed by livestock.
155 million acres of BLM land are grazed by livestock.
26.9 million acres of BLM land are designated as wild horse and burro habitat.

26 times more livestock than wild horses and burros are allowed on BLM land:

26,715 is the maximum number of wild horses and burros BLM allows to live on BLM land. This is the annual equivalent of 320,400 Animal Unit Months (AUMs) of forage annually.
8.4 million AUMs of forage are allocated annually to livestock, equivalent to 700,000 cow/calf pairs.
320,400 AUMs are allocated to wild horses and burros.

Source: BLM wild horse program & BLM grazing program.

Herd Management Areas

America has just 179 Herd Management Areas left, down from 303 originally designated. Source: BLM wild horse program & Public Land Statistics.

In addition to the BLM Herd Management Areas, the U.S. Forest Service manages 37 Wild Horse Territories in the U.S.

43 times more livestock than wild horses and burros are on FS land:

6,539 is the maximum number of wild horses and burros FS allows to live on FS land. This is the equivalent of 78,468 Animal Unit Months (AUMs) of forage annually.
3.4 million AUMs of forage are allocated annually to livestock, equivalent to 281,056 cow/calf pairs.
78,468 AUMs are allocated to wild horses and burros.

Source: U.S. Forest Service & FS 2014 Grazing Receipts.

^[1] One AUM = the amount of forage necessary to feed one cow/calf pair, one horse, two burros, or five sheep for a month. AUMs allocated for horses are calculated by multiplying the BLM’s national “Appropriate” Management Level for wild horses and burros by twelve (12 months).