What Genetic Diversity Looks Like

The advocates are embarrassed by nature and nature’s way, especially the transmission of life.

They want the populations subjected to never-ending fertility control, with the inevitable result of permanent infertility, loss of genetic diversity and herd collapse.

They are phonies, enemies of the horses, and don’t deserve a penny of your support.

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.

Sulphur Roundup, Day 13

The incident started on October 2.  Results through October 14:

  • FY: 2027
  • Scope: Sulphur HMA
  • Target: Horses
  • AML: 250
  • Pre-gather population: 560
  • Type: Planned
  • Contractor: Cattoor
  • Contract amount: $287,650
  • Unit cost: $959
  • Method: Helicopter
  • Category: Cruel and costly (according to advocates)
  • Better way: Stop genetic mixing with PZP (according to advocates)
  • Capture goal: 300
  • Removal goal: 300
  • Captured: 228, up from 196 on Day 11
  • Shipped: 193, no change from Day 11
  • Released: None
  • Deaths: 2, no change from Day 11
  • Average daily take: 17.5
  • Unaccounted-for animals: 33
  • Snippet from statute: It is the policy of Congress that wild free-roaming horses and burros shall be protected from capture, branding, harassment, or death
  • Snippet from manual: To protect wild horses and burros from unauthorized capture, branding, harassment or death

The figures above are based on the daily reports.

The gather stats say 194 shipped.

The helicopter did not fly on Day 12 due to bad weather.

The death rate is 0.9%.

The capture total includes 65 stallions, 116 mares and 47 foals.

Youngsters represented 20.6% of the animals gathered, enough to support a herd growth rate of 15% per year.

Of the adults, 35.9% were male and 64.1% were female.  These numbers don’t look like they came from a population that’s 50% male / 50% female.

Body condition scores were not given.

The location of the trap site was not disclosed.

There are no plans to treat any of the mares with fertility control and return them to the range, which would prolong the genetic bottleneck created by the roundup.

The HMA is subject to permitted grazing.  Resources liberated to date:

  • Forage: 2,736 AUMs per year
  • Water: 2,280 gallons per day

Public lands within two miles of active trapping locations and temporary holding facilities are closed to the public, with the exception of observers escorted by BLM staff.

PREVIOUS: Sulphur Roundup, Day 11.

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.

North Complex Roundup Goes to Cattoor

The obligated amount is $213,082 according to a report at USA Spending.

The capture goal of 323 gives a unit cost of $660 per animal taken.

Western Horse Watchers has not been able to find a gather page or news release but the incident is on the schedule with a start date of October 16.

RELATED: BLM Issues North Complex Final Planning Documents.

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.

Red Desert Roundup: Never Let a Crisis Go to Waste

The advocates will be sending their observers to Wyoming to document any mishaps and inflame public opinion about motorized removal.

They do this not because they care about the horses but because they’re pesticide salesmen and want the herds beaten down with no possibility of recovery.

The incident is set to begin on October 15.

PREVIOUS: BLM Closing Public Lands for Red Desert Roundup.

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.

Scoping Begins for East Pershing HMAP and Pest Control Plan

A new project has been created in ePlanning and two documents have been uploaded.

Comments on the management evaluation are due by November 1.

The Complex consists of three HMAs and four HAs.

The goal of the new plan is to achieve and maintain a thriving ecological balance.

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.

BLM Closing Public Lands for Red Desert Roundup

Areas within two miles of trap locations will be off limits while gather operations are conducted according to the Decision Record, which was copied to the project folder with a Categorical Exclusion.

The exceptions are contractor personnel and observers escorted by BLM staff.

A map showing the closure areas was attached to the document but it’s not there.

PREVIOUS: Red Desert Contract Goes to Sampson.

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.

Feeding Wild Horses?

If you’re feeding them they’re not wild.

What you have at the Salt River is a curated horse exhibit, the result of massive human involvement.

A few months ago the population was 270.

The numbers are going down not because of drought but because of the advocates and their ruinous darting program.

What makes you so sure that your donation will used for hay and not pesticides?

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.

Montana PBS Looks at American Prairie Grazing Controversy

The case involves a new, made-to-order interpretation of the grazing rules designed to limit grazing permits to production-oriented livestock, precluding the use of grazing allotments for conservation purposes, such as wild horse preserves.

If conservation herds were illegal, as the ranchers and their allies claim, the folks at Wild Horse Refuge would have been told to keep their animals on their own property, Mustang Monument never would have been proposed and American Prairie’s bison restoration project would have been dead on arrival.

Last month a federal judge ruled that the Taylor Grazing Act does not require a grazing operation to focus exclusively on production and ignore conservation or restoration.

PREVIOUS: Court Puts American Prairie’s Permit Revocation on Hold.

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.

BLM Supplying Water to Bar MK Livestock?

The news release says the Monticello Field Office issued a proposed decision authorizing the agency to drill a new well on the Spring Creek West Allotment but the DNA, copied to the project folder in ePlanning, indicates that installation and maintenance would be the responsibility of the permittee.

The allotment offers 150 active AUMs on 1,360 public acres, equivalent to 9.2 wild horses per thousand public acres.

Your faithful public servants claim that public lands in the western U.S. can only support one wild horse per thousand acres.

The allotment master report puts Spring Creek West in the Improve category with no AUMs in the suspended column to help the land recover.

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.

Wyoming to Congress: Let BLM Kill Wild Horses and Burros

State legislators drafted a resolution asking Congress to remove restrictions on the management and disposition of wild horses and burros and to authorize additional methods for the management and disposition of said animals, and to amend federal funding restrictions to allow for the destruction of healthy, unadopted wild horses and burros by the BLM, according to a report by Wyoming Public Media.

A draft bill, sponsored by the same representative, would repeal the criminal penalty for killing these animals.

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.

Sulphur Roundup, Day 11

The incident started on October 2.  Results through October 12:

  • FY: 2027
  • Scope: Sulphur HMA
  • Target: Horses
  • AML: 250
  • Pre-gather population: 560
  • Type: Planned
  • Contractor: Cattoor
  • Contract amount: $287,650
  • Unit cost: $959
  • Method: Helicopter
  • Category: Cruel and costly (according to advocates)
  • Better way: Sterilize the mares with PZP (according to advocates)
  • Capture goal: 300
  • Removal goal: 300
  • Captured: 196, no change from Day 9
  • Shipped: 193, no change from Day 9
  • Released: None
  • Deaths: 2, no change from Day 9
  • Average daily take: 17.8
  • Unaccounted-for animals: 1
  • Snippet from statute: It is the policy of Congress that wild free-roaming horses and burros shall be protected from capture, branding, harassment, or death
  • Snippet from manual: To protect wild horses and burros from unauthorized capture, branding, harassment or death

The figures above are based on the daily reports.

The gather stats say 194 shipped.

The helicopter did not fly on Days 10 and 11 due to bad weather.

The death rate is 1.0%.

The capture total includes 59 stallions, 98 mares and 39 foals.

Youngsters represented 19.9% of the animals gathered, enough to support a herd growth rate of 15% per year.

Of the adults, 37.6% were male and 62.4% were female.  These numbers don’t look like they came from a population that’s 50% male / 50% female.

Body condition scores were not given.

The location of the trap site was not disclosed.

There are no plans to treat any of the mares with fertility control and return them to the range, which would prolong the genetic bottleneck created by the roundup.

The HMA is subject to permitted grazing.  Resources liberated to date:

  • Forage: 2,352 AUMs per year
  • Water: 1,960 gallons per day

Public lands within two miles of active trapping locations and temporary holding facilities are closed to the public, with the exception of observers escorted by BLM staff.

PREVIOUS: Sulphur Roundup, Day 9.

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.

Acute Deaths in FY26 Roundups

Data from gather pages yielded 23 accidental deaths between July 1 and September 30, such as a mare crashing into a pipe panel and breaking her neck.

A pivot table for contractor versus horses captured and acute deaths gave these results:

At first you might think that Warner had the highest death rate but from a statistical viewpoint, using some basic calculations, you can’t tell them apart.  One contractor’s methods are no better or worse than the others.

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.

Sulphur Roundup, Day 9

The incident started on October 2.  Results through October 10:

  • FY: 2027
  • Scope: Sulphur HMA
  • Target: Horses
  • AML: 250
  • Pre-gather population: 560
  • Type: Planned
  • Contractor: Cattoor
  • Contract amount: $287,650
  • Unit cost: $959
  • Method: Helicopter
  • Category: Cruel and costly (according to advocates)
  • Better way: Destroy the breeding population with PZP (according to advocates)
  • Capture goal: 300
  • Removal goal: 300
  • Captured: 196, up from 167 on Day 7
  • Shipped: 193, up from 118 on Day 7
  • Released: None
  • Deaths: 2, no change from Day 7
  • Average daily take: 21.8
  • Unaccounted-for animals: 1
  • Snippet from statute: It is the policy of Congress that wild free-roaming horses and burros shall be protected from capture, branding, harassment, or death
  • Snippet from manual: To protect wild horses and burros from unauthorized capture, branding, harassment or death

The figures above are based on the daily reports.

The gather stats say 194 shipped.

The death rate is 1.0%.

The capture total includes 59 stallions, 98 mares and 39 foals.

Youngsters represented 19.9% of the animals gathered, enough to support a herd growth rate of 15% per year.

Of the adults, 37.6% were male and 62.4% were female.  These numbers don’t look like they came from a population that’s 50% male / 50% female.

Body condition scores were not given.

The location of the trap site was not disclosed.

There are no plans to treat any of the mares with fertility control and return them to the range, which would prolong the genetic bottleneck created by the roundup.

The HMA is subject to permitted grazing.  Resources liberated to date:

  • Forage: 2,352 AUMs per year
  • Water: 1,960 gallons per day

Public lands within two miles of active trapping locations and temporary holding facilities are closed to the public, with the exception of observers escorted by BLM staff.

PREVIOUS: Sulphur Roundup, Day 7.

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.

BLM Issues Eagle Final Planning Documents

The Decision Record authorizes Alternative A, the Proposed Action, discussed in section 2.4 of the Final EA.

  • Implement new HMAP
  • Remove excess animals to low AML
  • Apply fertility control
  • Shift sex ratio in favor of males
  • Monitor genetic diversity

The new HMAP is considered in Appendix I.

Appendix XIII says a preliminary EA was made available for a 30-day public review starting on June 26 but Western Horse Watchers did not see the announcement and cannot find the document in the project folder.

The Eagle Complex consists of the Eagle, Choke Cherry and Mount Elinor HMAs.

The combined AML is 145–265.

The current population is at 10X AML according to the news release.

PREVIOUS: Scoping Begins for Eagle HMAP and Enforcement Plan.

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.

Darkness at Pryor: Aging Herd with Fewer Foals

The general form of an AML is x to 2x, which is based on a doubling of the population every four to five years.

The Rule of 72 gives a growth rate of 14 to 18 percent per year.

Not at Pryor Mountain.

The new management plan set the AML at x to 1.1x, implying a growth rate of 2.3% per year.  (The Rule of 72 applies to doubling of populations, not 10% increases.)

The artificially low growth rate will be achieved with sustained fertility control, a dead end for wild horses.

Modeling by your faithful public servants indicates that the herd can maintain sufficient genetic diversity under the new plan, according to a report by the Lovell Chronicle.

Some observers, such as the director of operations at the Pryor Mountain Wild Mustang Center, worry that the result could be an older herd with fewer foals, a polite way of saying it’s on the way to extinction with no possibility of recovery.

The advocates, obsessed with fertility control and permanent herd reduction, are happy to sit back and watch it happen.

RELATED: Coalition Asks Court to Stop Pryor Roundup.

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.

BLM Issues Marietta Final Grazing Plan

The final planning documents were copied to the project folder on October 7.

The Decision Record authorizes Alternative One, the Proposed Action, discussed in section 2.1 of the Final EA.

Four allotments would be merged into one named Belleville.

The original allotments would become pastures.

A ten-year permit would be issued to the successful applicant.

The new allotment overlaps the Marietta Burro Range.  Refer to the map in Appendix D.

It’s not clear if AUMs have been always available to livestock in Marietta or have been taken from the burros without an RMP amendment.

Requests to shift AUMs from livestock to wild horses or burros are usually met with this response: “Changes to livestock grazing cannot be made through a wild horse gather decision and are only possible if BLM first revises the land-use plans to re-allocate livestock forage to wild horses and to eliminate or reduce livestock grazing.”

PREVIOUS: Marietta Grazing Plan Back on the Table.

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.

Barren Valley Roundup Ends

The incident concluded on October 9 with 388 horses captured, 386 shipped, none released and two dead.

There were no unaccounted-for animals.

Operations were suspended for over two weeks due to helicopter problems.

The capture total included 146 stallions, 161 mares and 81 foals.

Youngsters represented 20.9% of the animals gathered.

Of the adults, 47.6% were male and 52.4% were female.

The death rate was 0.5%.  All deaths were intentional.

There were no plans to inhibit the mares with PZP and return them to the range.

The contractor was Cattoor and the obligated amount was $269,383.

The reduction in forage demand means the ranchers can enjoy more of what their allotments have to offer, even if their potential has been diminished by drought.

PREVIOUS: Barren Valley Emergency Roundup Announced.

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.

Barren Valley Roundup, Day 35

The incident started on September 4.  Results through October 8:

  • FY: 2026
  • Scope: Sheepshead/Heath Creek HMA
  • Target: Horses
  • AML: 302
  • Pre-gather population: 1,200
  • Type: Emergency
  • Contractor: Cattoor
  • Contract amount: $269,383
  • Unit cost: $540
  • Method: Helicopter
  • Category: Cruel and costly (according to advocates)
  • Better way: Destroy the breeding population with PZP (according to advocates)
  • Capture goal: 499
  • Removal goal: 499
  • Captured: 387, up from 370 on Day 33
  • Shipped: 355, up from 285 on Day 33
  • Released: None
  • Deaths: 2, no change from Day 33
  • Average daily take: 11.1 (includes two-week lull for helicopter repairs)
  • Unaccounted-for animals: 30
  • Snippet from statute: It is the policy of Congress that wild free-roaming horses and burros shall be protected from capture, branding, harassment, or death
  • Snippet from manual: To protect wild horses and burros from unauthorized capture, branding, harassment or death

The figures above are based on the daily reports.

Aerial operations have concluded but the incident can’t be marked complete with 30 unaccounted-for animals.

The death rate is 0.5%.

The capture total includes 145 stallions, 161 mares and 81 foals.

Youngsters represented 20.9% of the animals gathered, a sign of genetic diversity and large enough to support a herd growth rate of 15% per year.

Of the adults, 47.4% were male and 52.6% were female, no indication of an abnormal sex ratio (usually found in herds where the advocates are involved).

Body condition scores were not given.

The location of the trap site was not disclosed.

There are no plans to treat any of the mares with fertility control pesticides and return them to the range, which would prolong the genetic bottleneck created by the roundup.

The HMA is subject to permitted grazing.

The area is closed to the public with no allowance for observers or reporters.

PREVIOUS: Barren Valley Roundup, Day 33.

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.