Antelope Roundup North, Day 21, SNAFU Edition

The incident began on July 9. Results through July 29:

Scope: Spruce-Pequop, Goshute, Antelope Valley HMAs
Purpose: Pest control, resource enforcement, rancher protection
Target: Horses
Type: Planned
Method: Helicopter
Category: Cruel and costly*
Better way: Poison mares with ovary-killing pesticides*
Captured: 1,019, up from 503 on Day 15
Average daily take: 48.5
Capture goal: 2,000
Removal goal: 2,000
Returned: 2, up from 1 on Day 15
Deaths: 15, up from 9 on Day 15
Shipped: 844, up from 429 on Day 15

The figures above are based on the daily reports, not the totals posted by the BLM.

Data quality is poor. Accuracy went south on Days 16 and 17.

The number of horses captured is 1,025 and the number shipped is 846 according to the figures in the sidebar.

A second helicopter was pressed into service on Day 19, possibly from the Antelope South roundup, now complete.

A stallion was put down on Day 16 because of a hernia.

Another stallion was put down on Day 17 because of blindness in one eye.

A colt was put down on Day 20 due to a physical defect of unspecified type.

A stallion was put down on Day 21 because of blindness in one eye and a filly was dispatched because of a sarcoid tumor, both non-life-threatening conditions. A filly was euthanized for physical defects on both front legs but no details were given.

The death rate is 1.5%.

The capture total includes 395 stallions, 470 mares and 154 foals.

Youngsters represented 15.1% of the animals gathered.

Of the adults, 45.7% were male and 54.3% were female.

A 15% birth rate corresponds to a growth rate of 10% per year, much less than the 20% growth rate used by land managers to predict herd sizes and management actions.

Body condition scores on Days 16 to 21 ranged from 3 to 4.

The location of the trap site was not disclosed.

The HMAs and surrounding lands are subject to permitted grazing.

*According to advocates.