The incident concluded on September 18 with 356 horses captured, 235 shipped, 109 released and 12 dead.
There were no unaccounted-for animals.
The death rate was 3.4%. All deaths were intentional.
The capture total included 131 stallions, 157 mares and 68 foals.
Of the animals released, 56% were stallions, 41% were mares and 3% were foals, an attempt to skew the sex ratio in favor of males and prolong the genetic bottleneck created by the roundup.
The average daily take was 89.
The roundup liberated 2,964 AUMs per year for other mandated uses of public lands.
The capture goal is 300 and the removal goal is 245.
The target is horses.
A helicopter will push them into the traps.
The contractor is Cattoor and the contract amount is $222,590.
Public lands within two miles of active trapping locations and temporary holding facilities are closed to public entry except for observers escorted by BLM staff.
A new project has been opened in ePlanning and three documents have been uploaded.
The Decision Record says that public lands within five miles of active trapping locations and temporary holding facilities will be closed to all public entry for the duration of the incident.
Only contractor personnel and observers escorted by BLM staff will be admitted.
The event is on the schedule with a start date of September 20.
Genetic diversity comes from genetic mixing and genetic mixing comes from breeding.
Anything that interferes with breeding puts long-term viability at risk.
Methods, which fall under the general heading of population growth suppression, include fertility control, sex ratio skewing and surgical sterilization.
Are you surprised that the advocates prefer methods that are more harmful to wild horses than motorized removal?
Helicopters don’t sterilize mares. They don’t destroy breeding populations and they don’t stop genetic mixing.
They do create genetic bottlenecks but recovery is possible.
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.
Seven horses were euthanized on Day 3 for pre-existing conditions.
The death rate is 2.0%.
The capture total includes 131 stallions, 157 mares and 68 foals.
Youngsters represented 19.1% of the animals gathered.
Of the adults, 45.5% were male and 54.5% were 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 pesticides and return them to the range.
The HMA is subject to permitted grazing. Resources liberated to date:
They were distributed yesterday at the annual meeting of the Public Lands Council.
The winner in the Stewardship Permittee category grazes the Yellowjacket Canyon Allotment in the Canyons of the Ancients National Monument according to the BLM news release.
The equivalent stocking rate is 3.3 wild horses per thousand public acres, a bit higher than the target rate across all HMAs of one wild horse per thousand acres.
The meeting included a breakout session on virtual fencing, a topic of growing interest among ranchers.
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 death rate is 0.5%.
The capture total includes 70 stallions, 7 geldings, 92 mares and 37 foals.
Youngsters represented 18.0% of the animals gathered.
Of the adults, 45.6% were male and 54.4 % were female.
Body condition scores were not given.
The location of the trap site was not disclosed.
Up to 54 mares will be treated with fertility control and returned to the range.
The HMA is subject to permitted grazing. Resources liberated to date:
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.
No animals were taken on Days 10 and 11 due to helicopter maintenance.
THE INCIDENT HAS BEEN SUSPENDED.
The death rate is 0.8%.
The capture total includes 90 stallions, 106 mares and 55 foals.
Youngsters represented 21.9% of the animals gathered.
Of the adults, 45.9% were male and 54.1% were 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 pesticides and return them to the range.
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 death rate is 0.6%.
The capture total includes 57 stallions, 5 geldings, 80 mares and 30 foals.
Youngsters represented 17.4% of the animals gathered.
Of the adults, 43.7% were male and 56.3% were female.
Body condition scores were not given.
The location of the trap site was not disclosed.
Up to 54 mares will be treated with fertility control and returned to the range.
The HMA is subject to permitted grazing. Resources liberated to date:
The report says there are an estimated 85,466 wild horses and burros on BLM lands, more than triple the level the range can support, a common misconception about AMLs.
A more accurate statement would say triple the number allowed by plan.
Many HMAs would be well above AML if you removed all the wild horses because of privately owned livestock.
That part is usually overlooked or swept under the rug.
Western Horse Watchers Association 