Onaqui Herd Struggling?

The Onaqui Catalogue Foundation reported earlier this year that the herd consisted of 144 males, 127 females, ten undetermined and 24 foals, for a total of 305, compared to an AML of 210.

The 2021 roundup took 435 wild horses into custody and returned 123 to the HMA, for a net removal of 312.

The BLM said the pre-gather population was over 475, plus that year’s foals.

Today, foals represent just 7.9% of the population, which is unnatural, a product of the darting program administered by the Wild Horses of America Foundation, not climate change or drought.

This amount is probably only two or three percentage points above the death rate, which was not given.

Why is it important to achieve and maintain AMLs?  So ranchers can access most of the resources in the lawful homes of wild horses.

WITHOUT DARTING PROGRAMS

• Livestock receive most of the authorized forage, in theory
• Herds bounce back after roundups

WITH DARTING PROGRAMS

• Livestock receive most of the authorized forage, in practice
• Herds don’t bounce back after roundups
• Massive human involvement
• Disruption of natural order
• Injuries and infections
• Increasing death rates
• Abnormal sex ratios
• Sterility

These programs are safe, proven and reversible according to their adherents.

Those who disagree with permitted grazing, and don’t want the mares’ ovaries destroyed with a restricted-use pesticide, are derided by the charlatans at WHAF, who claim to be “in the know” and describe the concern as a “juvenile argument.”

A keyword search of their page about PZP yielded these results:

• Sterilization – 0 occurrences
• Sterility – 0
• Injuries – 0
• Infections – 0
• Sex ratios – 0
• Death rates – 0

As for the wild horse shootings, two stallions were lost.

A herd composed of 281 adults should see around 50 new foals in a given year, a 17.8% birth rate, but only 22 were born in 2022.

That means the advocates got rid of 28 federally protected animals, 14 times more than the shooters.

Why hasn’t a warrant been issued for their arrest?

RELATED: Onaqui Reward Climbs.