Roundup of Wild Horses and Burros in Colorado’s Piceance Basin Begins Today

Roundup of Wild Horses and Burros in Colorado’s Piceance Basin Begins Today

Photo and B-Roll Roundup Viewing Opportunity

Meeker, Colorado (July 15, 2022) – Today, the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) large-scale helicopter roundup of wild horses begins in the Piceance-East Douglas Herd Management Area (HMA), outside of Meeker. Originally scheduled for September, the BLM accelerated the roundup to July.

The accelerated timeframe disappointed both Governor Jared Polis and animal welfare advocates. This prompted calls from the American Wild Horse Conservation (formerly American Wild Horse Campaign) to delay the operation, citing improved range conditions and serious concerns about the welfare of young foals and heavily pregnant mares during the helicopter stampedes.

Over 800 wild horses are expected to be rounded up in the Piceance Basin out of a population of 1,385. AWHC has long held that helicopter roundups are inhumane, causing undue stress and anxiety to the horses, with weaker horses, young foals, and pregnant mares vulnerable to injury or death.

For the immediate Piceance wild horse roundup, AWHC further amplified the need for delay, citing concerns with BLM-managed short and long-term holding facilities. The BLM currently faces a capacity crisis in its holding facilities, as evidenced by 146 avoidable deaths this year at Cañon City in Colorado, and a roundup welfare crisis, evidenced by ten deaths at the most recent helicopter roundup at Buffalo Hills in Nevada. Equally troubling, following the Piceance roundup, the horses will be held captive in a short-term holding facility on private property, not open or accessible to the public for viewing.

From there, the Piceance basin horses are destined for the Axtell Wild Horse Corrals in Utah, which was recently found to be non-compliant in several critical areas, such as lack of vaccinations, drainage, and special care handling.

AWHC also challenges the BLM’s claim that wild horses are overpopulating the West. The animals are present on just 11 percent of the public land the agency manages and are outnumbered 50-1 by commercial livestock. AWHC noted that the BLM’s desired population limit for wild horses and burros across the West – 17,000-25,000 – is not based on science, according to the National Academy of Sciences. By comparison, 1 million elk live in the ten western states where wild horses and burros are found.

As an alternative to large-scale helicopter roundups, AWHC advocates for the BLM to fully invest in a robust fertility control vaccine program to address reproduction humanely on the range.

Photo Advisory Details

• What: Roundup Viewing
  • Photo and b-roll opportunities of wild horses and burros running in the wild and BLM’s helicopter contractor rounding up horses/burros
• Date: The roundup will start on July 15 and is expected to last at least one full month (August 15).
• Location: Piceance-East Douglas Herd Management Area
• Meeting Locations*: Kum and Go Gas Station, 39065 Co Hwy 13. Meeker, CO 81641 *Subject to change
• BLM Hotline for Day-to-Day Updates: 970-673-7768

AWHC Point of Contact (please note, cell reception is not strong in the Basin):

• AWHC photographer and spokesperson Scott Wilson will be on-site on Friday, July 15 and July 16th.
• [email protected]
• 303-408-3486

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.

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