Rights Groups Decry US Plan to Reduce Wild Horse Numbers
The US government has unveiled a controversial plan to reduce the number of wild horses and burros on public lands from 100,000 to 27,000. This plan involves methods such as sales, sterilization, and euthanasia, sparking significant backlash from conservation groups.
The plan (PDF) was requested by the US Congress and drafted by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), a government agency responsible for managing about 100 million hectares (247.3 million acres) of public lands, including the protection of animal populations and resources.
BLM presented the plan on April 26, stating its goal to "achieve long-term sustainable populations" of these wild animals. The agency called for politicians to end the prohibition of sales of wild horses and to ease limits on euthanasia.
According to BLM estimates, there were 83,000 wild horses and burros in 10 western US states in 2017, more than three times the number of animals—26,715—that the agency believes the land can sustain. The agency expects this number to rise to 100,000 by 2019.
The plan has caused outrage among US advocates for wild animals. Suzanne Roy, executive director of the American Wild Horse Conservation (formerly American Wild Horse Campaign), described the plan as "a roadmap for the destruction of America's wild free-roaming horses and burros by virtually eradicating their populations on our Western public lands" in a press release.
The release condemned one version of the plan, which called for the "mass killing or sale for slaughter of 100,000 mustangs and burros, including those currently in holding facilities and those who would be removed from the range."
The American Wild Horse Conservation (formerly American Wild Horse Campaign) criticized the BLM's accepted number of wild horses as "unscientific" and "absurdly low." The group highlighted New Mexico, which has about 5.6 million hectares (14 million acres) of BLM-managed land but will have only 83 wild horses, equating it to having three horses in the entire state of Rhode Island.
The organization has long criticized BLM for its treatment of wild horses. Another point of contention is the agency's use of "roundups," a technique involving helicopters corralling the horses into traps for captivity.
As of April 2018, BLM's website reported over 45,000 wild horses living under its care.
"BLM, the agency whose terrible mismanagement of this program has brought us to this place, is now proposing more bad ideas, including mass roundup and slaughter to cover for their incompetence," stated AWHC's executive director.
"The agency has failed to deliver the 'humane and politically viable' options" that Congress had requested, Roy concluded. The American Wild Horse Conservation (formerly American Wild Horse Campaign) promised to deliver a detailed reaction to BLM plans in the coming days.
BLM acknowledged criticisms in its report, stating that those "who speak out regarding the BLM's wild horse and burro program are generally interested in the well-being of the horses."
Originally posted by Al Jazeera News