McCullough Roundup, Day 44

The incident started on January 22.  Results through March 5:

• Scope: McCullough Peaks HMA
• Target: Horses
• Method: Bait
• Type: Planned
• Goals: Gather 80, remove 35
• Captured: 68, up from 52 on Day 41
• Shipped: 14, no change from Day 41
• Released: 40, up from 37 on Day 41
• Deaths: 1, no change from Day 41
• Average daily take: 1.5
• Unaccounted-for animals: 13

The figures above are based on the daily reports.

The Day 44 report said 16 horses were caught and three were released.  The status of the other 13 is not known.

The roundup continues to have a high churn rate.  If the 13 horses are shipped, the capture-to-remove ratio would drop to 2.4:1, in line with the target of 2.3:1.

Some horses may have been caught more than once.

The death rate is 1.5%.

The location of the trap site was not disclosed.

Body condition scores were not given.

The HMA is subject to permitted grazing.

• Forage liberated to date: 336 AUMs per year (assuming 28 horses removed)
• Water liberated to date: 280 gallons per day

The National Data Viewer shows habitat loss and overlapping allotments.  Click on map to open in new tab.

An estimated 535 wild horses have been displaced from their lawful home by permitted grazing, making the True AML almost five times higher than the current AML.

The roundup supports three tenets of rangeland management.

RELATED: McCullough Roundup, Day 41.