Unique Catalogue Project Offers Unusual Insight into Utah Wild Horse Roundup
American Wild Horse Conservation (formerly American Wild Horse Campaign) Onsite, Providing Daily Reports, Photos and Video
TOOELE, UTAH (July 15, 2021) — A unique documentation project by the Onaqui Catalogue Foundation provides an unusual look into the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM’s) wild horse roundup taking place this week in the Onaqui Mountain Herd Management Area (HMA), south of Salt Lake City.
The Onaqui Catalogue Foundation has developed a comprehensive database on each of the approximately 500 members of the Onaqui wild horse population, the most well-known mustang herd in the country. At the ongoing roundup, the foundation is working to identify which individuals and which family groups of horses have been captured. Alongside the American Wild Horse Conservation (formerly American Wild Horse Campaign), the Foundation is also providing information to assist the BLM in making decisions about which horses will be returned to the range based on such factors as genetic viability, keeping family groups together, maintaining natural age, sex and herd dynamics, and protecting the welfare of older, unadoptable horses.
At the same time, the AWHC is providing daily reports, live updates, and photographs and video from the roundup, which began yesterday with the capture of a family group of 14 horses - a grey stallion, nine mares, and four foals. The horses were taken to the BLM’s holding corrals in Delta, UT for processing for adoption and sale.
Approximately 90 additional horses were captured today. The roundup is expected to last up to 12 days and aims to capture 400 of the estimated 500 horses living in the HMA, with 300 permanently removed for sale or adoption and 100 returned to the range.
“Thanks to the work of the Onaqui Catalogue Foundation, we are able to put a unique face on this roundup and the wild horses whose freedom will be lost forever,” said Suzanne Roy, executive director of AWHC. “The catalogue is also providing invaluable information to the BLM to inform its decisions about which horses to return to the range to best ensure the long-term health of the herd. The BLM Utah has taken significant steps to minimize the impacts of the roundup and make the best decisions possible for the return of horses to the range. We are hopeful for a new era of collaboration for humane management of this beloved herd so that this will be the last time the helicopters fly to capture wild horses in the Onaqui Herd Management Area.”
More information:
- Daily Reports from the field
- The Onaqui Roundup: Here are 10 things you need to know
- AWHC and Western Watersheds Project Plan for Onaqui wild horses
The American Wild Horse Conservation (formerly American Wild Horse Campaign) (AWHC) 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. In addition to advocating for the protection and preservation of America’s wild herds, AWHC implements the largest wild horse fertility control program in the world through a partnership with the State of Nevada for wild horses that live in the Virginia Range near Reno.
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