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Wild Horses
- Scientific name- (Equus Ferus) defined as an undomesticated horse.
- Wild Horses habitat in Nevada includes: (NWHR) Nevada Wild Horse Range and (WHT) the Monitor Wild Horse Territory and (HMA) The Red Rock Herd Management Area. They prefer open spaces of grasslands, prairies, plains, high deserts, and mountainous regions.
- Wild Horses life span is 36 years, with a tendency to be shorter than domestic horses.
- (BLM) Bureau of Land Management as of March 1, 2024, estimated that there are 33,338 wild horses.
- (AML) The Appropriate Management Level for wild horses and burros on public lands is the number that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) determines can exist in balance with other resources and uses in each area.
- Wild Horses characteristics of colors are black, brown, white, grey, bay, pinto, and palomino. They weigh 700-1,000 pounds and have hard hooves and strong legs and can stand high 52-60 inches.
- Wild Horses live in harems with a dominant male and have aggressive and nervous temperaments.
- Wild Horses are herbivores and eat a variety of plants, including grasses, shrubs, trees, and flowers and sometimes eat fruits and vegetables (apples, carrots).
- Wild Horses predators are mountain lions, coyotes, bears.
- The Appropriate Management Level (AML) is the number of animals that the Bureau of Land Management has decided to allow on public lands, based on the land’s ability to support the horses and burros and other uses such as protecting habitats and ecological processes.
- The Wild Free Roaming Horses and Burros Act directs the (BLM) Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service to mange wild horse and burro populations to achieve and maintain a thriving natural ecological balance. To do so, (BLM) Bureau of Land Management is focused on gathering excess animals from overpopulated herds and finding good private care for them through adoptions and sales, while at the same time expanding fertility control treatments to slow herd growth. Animals not placed into private care are provided space and grasslands to roam on (BLM) Bureau of Land Management contracted pastures. This law declares wild horses and burros to be “living symbols of the historic and pioneer spirit of the West” and stipulates that (BLM) Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service have the responsibility to manage and protect herds in their respective jurisdictions within areas when wild horses were caught roaming in 1971
Figure 2: Prepared by the Coalition for Healthy Nevada Lands, Wildlife and Free-roaming horses and burros using BLM data
Figure 5: Prepared using BLM cost data and 18% population growth rates.
Burros
- Scientific name- (Equus asinus) the term burro is a Spanish name for animals that were once wild, while “donkey” is used to refer to domesticated animals.
- Wild Burros’ habitat is (WBT) The Burro Wild Burro Territory, Beatty, Blue Wing Complex, Red Rock Canyon.
- Wild Burros give birth to one foal (baby burro) each year and can live up to 25 years.
- (BLM) Bureau of Land Management as of March 1, 2024, estimated that there are 4,685 burros.
- Wild Burros are a class of small donkeys and adults weigh between 110 and 410 pounds and have long ears and have a short mane and burro foals have a thick, fluffy coat that makes them appear hardy, but they are fragile and need shelter for the first few weeks of their lives and have big floppy ears.
- Wild Burros males and females have overlapping territories and do not form family groups and may form loosely knit groups whose members temporarily interact to some degree socially
- Wild burros eat a variety of plants, including grasses, shrubs, and desert plants. They are highly adaptable and will eat whatever plants are available in their ecosystem to meet their nutritional needs and can also eat woody plants. They can survive in harsh conditions where water and forage are scarce.
- Wild Burros predators are mountain lions, coyotes, and bears.
Comprehensive Animal Welfare Program (CAWP)- it formalizes standard operating procedures surrounding animal care and handling, establishes formal training in animal welfare for (BLM) Bureau of Land Management personnel, partners, and contractors and implements internal and external assessments for all activities undertaken in the Wild Horse and Burro Program. The BLM provides information to equine sale and auction facilities regarding the illegal sale of untitled wild horses and burros. If you observe or have any information that a federally protected (untitled) wild horse or wild burro has been treated inhumanely or illegally sold to slaughter, please contact the BLM at (wildhorse@blm.gov) or call 866-468-7826.
FYI- The following federal agencies are responsible for balancing horses and burros with natural resource management, biodiversity, national security, and other multiple uses on public lands: 1) U.S. Forest Service (USFS) by authority of the Secretary of Agriculture is responsible for managing wild horses and wild burros on National Forest System lands. The Forest Service administers 37 wild horses or burro territories, to protect wild horses and burros from capture, branding, harassment, or death. 2) U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services National Wildlife Refuge System (NWRS) which partners with outside entities to manage small herds of horses on a limited number of National Wildlife Refuges. The Services management action include horse and burro gathers and adoption programs to move the animals off refuge lands in a humane manner, due to concerns that additional population growth would increase animal/human health and safety problems and increase damage to the valuable and sensitive refuge habitats and cultural resources for which the Refuge is established. 3) Department of Defense (DOD) the Department of Defense does not have a role in directly managing horses and burros, the DOD does work with BLM personnel to deal with horses and burros that are on DOD lands, like the (USAF) U.S. Air Force (Nellis Air Force Base Range in Nevada. In 1962, USAF and BLM personnel worked together to create the Nevada Wild Horse Range (NWHR) on the Nellis Air Force Range, giving BLM the responsibility of conducting annual censuses of the horses on the NWHR.
U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management: https://www.blm.gov/
Nevada Department of Agriculture: https://agri.nv.gov/uploadedFiles/agrinvgov/Content/Media/vre_faq_final_ada.pdf