Nearly 300 Wild Horses Gathered in Six Days

In a significant operation, nearly 300 wild horses were gathered over six days from the Devil's Garden Wild Horse Territory. This effort aimed to manage the population and facilitate adoptions.

ALTURAS – Fifty-three wild horses were gathered Saturday from the Steele Swamp area at the landowner’s request on the last day of gathering from private and tribal lands within and adjacent to the Devil’s Garden Wild Horse Territory, according to a Modoc National Forest news release.

This brings the total from the six-day gather to 290, with approximately 200 total shipped to the Litchfield Wild Horse and Burro Facility corrals for adoption. Approximately 30 older horses have been sent to Litchfield as a result of commitments from adopters at Willow Creek temporary holding facility.

According to the original plan for this gather, releases of horses older than 5 years have already occurred as younger horses have a higher adoption rate.

While gather operations are complete, another release was planned on Sunday for the remaining horses older than 5 years.

After administering PZP fertility control to unadopted older mares, they will be released to an area within the territory, but away from the private lands where they were gathered. Unadopted wild horses at Litchfield are also slated for return to the territory after nine months.

For adoption and viewing information, call Litchfield at 530-254-6575 or 800-545-4256, or visit the adoption program webpage at http://on.doi.gov/1u25hEH.

Originally posted by Herald and News