The incident began on May 2. Gather stats through May 16:
- Target: Burros
- Type: Planned
- Method: Helicopter
- Captured: 710, up from 607 on Day 13
- Average daily take: 47.3
- Capture goal: 1,080
- Removal goal: 1,080
- Returned: None
- Deaths: None
- Shipped: 630, up from 508 on Day 13
The cumulative total includes 264 jacks, 359 jennies and 87 foals, based on figures in the daily reports. The breakdown at the gather page is 265, 357 and 88.
Youngsters represented 12.3% of the animals captured. Of the adults, 42.4% were male and 57.6% were female.
The herd can’t be growing at a rate of 20% per year with a birth rate of 12% per year.
The percentage of foals has been going down as the number of animals caught goes up.
The percentages of males and females are now outside calculated limits of variation for a simple random process centered at p-bar = .5 (50% males / 50% females) with a sample size of n = 623 adults.
Abnormal sex ratios are not unusual in herds treated with the Montana Solution.
It’s one of the characteristics the Park Service is hiding at Assateague Island.
No PZP jennies have been reported since Day 6.
Is that result lower than expected? Where did they go? The experiment will likely be discussed next week at the International Fertility Control Conference.
The location of the trap site within the HMA was not given.
Day 15 ended with 80 unaccounted-for animals.
The number of animals taken off the range is 710 and the removal goal is 66% complete.
Other statistics:
- AML: 478
- Forage assigned to burros: 2,868 AUMs per year
- Pre-gather population: 3,000
- Forage liberated to date: 4,260 AUMs per year
- Water liberated to date: 3,550 gallons per day
- Forage assigned to livestock: 7,333 AUMs per year (estimated)
- Burros displaced from HMA by permitted grazing: 1,222
- True AML: 1,700
- Stocking rate at new AML: 1.7 burros per thousand acres
- Burros displaced from HMA by drilling and mining: Ask the advocates
RELATED: Black Mountain Roundup Day 13.
Western Horse Watchers Association 