The Bureau of Land Management completed a roundup of nearly 1,900 wild horses designed to reduce overpopulation in Elko and White Pine counties on Thursday, killing 23 of them.

The agency reported on Friday that 1,897 wild horses were rounded up from public lands in an area about 60 miles north of Ely, with 50 mares expected to be treated with a population suppression vaccine and then released. The release date and location will be announced, according to the agency.

In addition, 50 stallions from the July 15 roundup will be released.

According to a news release, the gather not only reduces population in an area with insufficient water and forage for the herd, but it also prevents “further degradation” of public lands associated with excess wild horses and restores “a thriving natural ecological balance.”

“The gather was critical to ensuring public land health as well as horse health.” Both remain vulnerable due to herd overpopulation and exceptional drought conditions,” said Robbie McAboy, the agency’s Ely district manager.

The animals were taken to the Indian Lakes Off-Range Wild Horse and Burro Corral in Fallon and the Sutherland Off-Range Corrals in Sutherland, Utah, to be prepared for the Bureau of Land Management’s wild horse and burro adoption and sale program.

Wild horses that are not adopted or sold will be placed in long-term pastures where they will be cared for humanely while maintaining their “wild” status and protection under the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971.

According to the agency, 17 of the deaths were caused by pre-existing or chronic conditions, such as fractured legs, blindness, or congenital tendon issues.

A 6-year-old Palomino stallion and a 7-year-old bay mare that died suddenly from broken necks, as well as a sorrel foal with colic, were among the six fatalities referred to in the report as acute/sudden.

Credits: 8 News Now

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