New Data Shows Significant Reduction in Wild Horse Foaling Rates and Population

RENO (February 27, 2023) – The American Wild Horse Conservation (formerly American Wild Horse Campaign), the nation’s leading wild horse conservation organization, released new data showing a significant reduction in wild horse foal births as a result of a local private-public partnership for wild horse management in the greater Reno area. The results solidify the program’s stature as the international model for the humane management of wild, free-roaming horse and burro herds.

In a press briefing, the AWHC detailed preliminary results of its ongoing humane birth control program – an effort that aims to reduce the population growth rates of the historic wild mustang herd in Northern Nevada’s 300,000-acre Virginia Range. The data show that the program is well on its way to the goal of humane population reduction, necessitated by habitat loss due to rapid development in the area.

“As the Virginia Range data supports, this scientific and conservation-oriented approach is a viable and more cost-effective alternative to inhumane roundups and removal of wild horses from the range, a tactic which often results in the lifelong confinement or slaughter of these majestic animals,” said Tracy Wilson, Nevada State Director for AWHC.

Key Results

• A 61 percent foal reduction in all areas where horses are darted in 2022 compared to 2020
• A 50 percent mortality rate of foals due to natural predation (mountain lions)
• An overall wild horse population decline of greater than 20% since 2020
• A 12 percent population decline in the City of Reno urban interface, a fast-developing area.

“These results signal real conservation progress in this corner of Nevada where wild horse protection began,” said Wilson. “On-range solutions combined with natural predator control are creating a new playbook for sustainable wild horse management that can inform federal and state policy.”

The local, community-based program is conducted at no cost to taxpayers under a Cooperative Agreement with the Nevada Department of Agriculture, where AWHC oversees the fertility control program and local organization, Wild Horse Connection (WHC) spearheads range management that includes fence construction, gate installation and repair, rescue and diversionary feeding to keep horses off of roadways and out of the urban interface.

According to organizations, these efforts – coupled with fertility control measures – have also resulted in a more than 50 percent decrease in vehicle/horse strikes in Reno and a drop in strikes in nearby Dayton Valley from 25 collisions in 2020 to 1 in 2022.

About Fertility Control

Porcine Zona Pellucida (PZP) is a fertility-control vaccine given to female horses on the range through an injection via remote darting. PZP is scientifically proven, with over three decades of use, and is recommended by the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) for use in federally protected wild horse herds. The efficacy rate is 95-97%, and research has found that a mare who has been treated for 5-7 years will self-boost and no longer require additional treatments.

About the American Wild Horse Conservation

The American Wild Horse Conservation (formerly American Wild Horse Campaign) is the nation’s leading wild horse protection organization, with more than 700,000 supporters and followers nationwide. AWHC is dedicated to preserving the American wild horse and burros in viable, free-roaming herds for generations to come, as part of our national heritage.