East Pershing Roundup, Day 33

The incident began on December 28.  Results through January 29:

• Scope: Sonoma Range HA, East Range HA, Humboldt HA, Tobin Range HMA, North Stillwater HMA, Augusta Mountains HMA
• Purpose: Pest control, resource enforcement, rancher protection
• Target: Horses
• Type: Planned
• Method: Helicopter
• Category: Cruel and costly*
• Better way: Snuff out new life with PZP, let the herds die off*
• Captured: 2,054, up from 1,967 on Day 31
• Average daily take: 62.2
• Capture goal: 2,875
• Removal goal: 2,875
• Released: 3, no change from Day 31
• Deaths: 24, up from 21 on Day 31
• Shipped: 2,021, up from 1,937 on Day 31

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

On Day 33, a stallion was put down for a club foot, a mare was dispatched for swayback and another mare was killed due to a missing eye.  Although most won’t be adopted, if they’re deemed unadoptable, they’re toast.

The death rate is 1.2%.

The capture total includes 855 stallions, 941 mares and 258 foals.  The sidebar at the gather page says 853/935/260.

Youngsters represented 12.6% of the animals gathered, consistent with a herd growth rate of seven to eight percent per year.

Of the adults, 47.6% were male and 52.4% were female, no evidence of an abnormal sex ratio.

Body condition scores ranged from 3 to 5 on Days 32 and 33.

The name of the contractor was not given and the location of the trap site was not disclosed.

The Complex is managed primarily for animal agriculture.  The National Data Viewer shows habitat loss and grazing allotments.  Click on image to open in new tab.

*According to advocates.

Day 33 ended with 6 unaccounted-for animals.  This result should be zero based on the totals in the sidebar, suggesting there are errors in the daily reports.

There are no plans to treat any of the captured mares with fertility control pesticides and return them to the range.

Other statistics:

• Forage liberated to date: 24,612 AUMs per year
• Water liberated to date: 20,510 gallons per day
• Horses allowed by plan: 555
• Pre-gather population: 3,375
• Forage assigned to horses: 6,660 AUMs per year
• Forage assigned to livestock: Not determined
• Horses displaced from Complex by permitted grazing: Not determined
• True AML: Not determined
• Stocking rate at new AML: Not determined
• Horses displaced by drilling and mining: Ask the advocates

Overpopulation means more horses than allowed by plan, not necessarily more horses than the land can support.

The ability of the Complex to sustain wild horses has been limited by the bureaucrats, who have assigned most of their food to the public-lands ranchers.

Refer to these reports for an indication of the problem:

• Sonoma Range HA
• East Range HA
• Tobin Range HMA
• Augusta Mountains HMA
• North Stillwater HMA

RELATED: East Pershing Roundup, Day 31.