Navigating the rugged terrain and steep inclines of the Rocky Mountains is no problem for the sturdy, surefooted wild Mustangs that roam these mountains in small bands and herds.
An American icon, these horses—and those who inhabit the plains and mountains of ten western states—are so beloved by the American people that Congress passed The Wild Horse and Free Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971 to protect these animals from capture, branding, harassment and death.
Managing the Herd
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Immunocontraception is a humane method for wild horse population control.© Kayla Grams/The HSUS |
The law gives the Bureau of Land Management the authority to manage the population of wild horses in designated herd management areas.
For decades, BLM has used regularly scheduled roundups, where horses are removed from the range and offered to the public for adoption as its primary means of population control.
However, increasing pressure from ranchers who want to graze cattle and other animals on the land reserved for the horses and a hostile 2004 amendment to the law that allows wild horses to be sold without limitation have placed the fate of these beautiful animals on perilous footing.
Finding Solutions
Since the early 1970s, researchers at the Science and Conversation Center and The Humane Society of the United States have been exploring ways to manage wild horse populations using an immunocontraception vaccine.
The goal: to eliminate the need for stressful government-sponsored roundups of the wild horses, in which the horses are chased with helicopters, separated from family groups and offered for adoption.
For years, the number of horses rounded up by BLM has far exceeded the number of potential adopters, consigning tens of thousands of horses to life in government holding facilities—a far cry from the freedom and close social bonds they enjoyed while roaming the plains and mountains.
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| Heidi Hopkins, wild horse program manager, accepts the keys to a donated Certified Pre-Owned Land Rover LR3. ©The HSUS |
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Tools to Help
Now, The HSUS has a powerful new ally in its quest to keep wild horses on public lands.
Land Rover recently donated two Certified Pre-Owned LR3s, retrofitted with special features to enable the HSUS team to successfully reach the wild horses with the supplies needed to administer the vaccine.
Without these vehicles, the rugged mountain terrain that the Mustangs manuever with ease would be impossible for HSUS researchers to successfully traverse.
Into the Wild: Go on a Test Drive with Our Wild Horse Research Team
