Onaqui Wild Horses Removed from Utah Range Amid Controversy

The removal of wild horses from Utah's Onaqui Mountains has ignited a heated debate. The operation, which began with the roundup of 14 horses near Dugway, has drawn criticism from activists and organizations like the American Wild Horse Conservation (formerly American Wild Horse Campaign), who argue that the methods used are unnecessary and potentially inhumane.

The controversialremoval of wild horses from Utah’s Onaqui Mountainsbegan Wednesday with the roundup of 14 horses near Dugway.

Dozens of activists gathered on a hillside to observe a helicopter and wranglers drive the horses into a stock pen and document what they say is unnecessary and possibly inhumane treatment of the nation’s most beloved herd of wild horses.

TheBureau of Land Managementhas contracted with a livestock roundup company which is being paid hundreds of dollars per head to use a helicopter to drive horses into pens. The plan is to gather about 400 of the estimated 500 horses that occupy the Onaqui herd management area, one of 19 thatBLMoversees in Utah. The agency says most ranges are overpopulated with free-roaming horses and burros that are degrading the land, and expects to conduct additionalroundupsthis year.

According to theBLM, the group removed Wednesday consisted of a grey stallion, nine mares, and four foals. TheAmerican Wild Horse Conservationposted headshots of all 14 as part of a documentary project calledOnaqui Catalogue Foundationto put faces to the horses “whose freedom will be lost forever.”

“At the same time, the catalogue is providing an invaluable service to identify horses for return to the range to best ensure the long-term health of the herd,” saidSuzanne Roy, executive director of AWHC. “TheBLMUtah has been extremely open to working with AWHC and the catalogue to minimize the impacts of the roundup and to make the best decisions for the return of horses to the range.”

On Thursday, another 94 horses were gathered, and all but one were sent to theBLM’s horse corral in Delta. No deaths or injuries have been reported so far on the roundup.

While theseroundupsare common around the West, this one has become a lightning rod of controversy because the Onaqui horses are the nation’s most observed wild horses. They live only 60 miles from Salt Lake City and are notoriously comfortable around people, so they are easy to photograph and enjoy by horse lovers.

Most of the gathered horses will be put up for adoption or spend their lives in captivity. However, 52 mares are to receive injections of the fertility vaccinePZPand returned to the range with an equal number of stallions. In total, at least 200 Onaqui horses will remain on the land, according to theBLM.

But that has done little to quell concerns of various horse-advocacy and animal-rights groups that have implored the Interior Department, under the new leadership of Deb Haaland, to cancel the roundup. Most of the groups, including the American Wild Horse Conservation, want theBLMto continue treating mares with PZP as a way to keep the Onaqui numbers in check without having to resort to sterilization orroundups, while others insist the horses be left alone.Friends of Animalsblasted PZP as a “fertility pesticide” that would obliterate the herd.

The roundup is expected to last 12 days and the horses will be available for adoption in October.

Originally posted by The Salt Lake Tribune