Wild Horse Advocates Criticize BLM's New Research on Population Control
Washington, DC (July 7, 2015) - The American Wild Horse Conservation (formerly American Wild Horse Preservation) has expressed strong criticism of the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) recent announcement. The BLM plans to spend $11 million over five years on eight research projects aimed at curbing wild horse population growth.
This announcement has been met with disappointment and concern. Instead of using humane birth control methods currently available, the BLM is opting for invasive surgical procedures that could permanently sterilize wild horses and alter their natural behaviors, which are protected under federal law.
Permanent sterilization is seen as a path to extinction, further exacerbating the genetic crisis facing wild horses and burros under BLM management. Methods that alter natural behaviors should be avoided, as these behaviors are crucial for maintaining social organization and band integrity, as identified by the National Academy of Sciences (NAS).
In 2013, the NAS conducted a comprehensive review of the BLM Wild Horse and Burro Program, recommending against actions that would alter wild horse behaviors essential for their survival in the wild and against subjecting them to invasive surgical procedures in field settings.
The recent NAS panel review of the research proposals lacked transparency, with the public not informed of participation opportunities. The NAS committee's recommendations and research details, including principal investigators, grant amounts, and research locations, are withheld from the public.
The BLM continues to spend tax dollars on potentially harmful population control research while under-utilizing PZP fertility control, a widely accepted management tool by the scientific community and the public.
The American Wild Horse Conservation (formerly American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign) is a coalition of over 60 organizations dedicated to preserving American wild horses in viable, free-roaming herds as part of our national heritage. Its founding organization, Return to Freedom (RTF), is a national non-profit dedicated to wild horse preservation through sanctuary, education, and conservation, operating sanctuaries on the Central California Coast.
The NAS recommendation letter to the BLM can be downloaded here. However, Appendices A & B, containing the committee's actual recommendations, are classified as "nonpublic."