The Battle Over Burros: More Than Just Mustangs

Public criticism of roundups is not limited to wild horses. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) also conducts annual “gather” operations to remove “excess” wild burros from herd areas in the West. These operations have sparked controversy, with advocates raising concerns about the methods used and the necessity of such actions.

In this video, advocates for the wild burros document "aggressive" roundup practices, including a helicopter hitting and flipping over a burro in the California desert in 2009 and a BLM contract wrangler manhandling a reluctant burro during a 2008 roundup in Arizona.

As with the wild horse roundups, the BLM defends the operations as humane and says that incidents such as these are both isolated and contrary to its contractor guidelines. The BLM states there are about 5,800 wild burros living in the wild, mostly in Arizona, Nevada, and California. However, many advocates believe the wild burro population is much smaller and that burro roundups are unnecessary.

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Originally Posted By NBC News