The increased roundups, both ongoing and scheduled over the next two months, trouble wild horse advocates.
He said the gather, along with fertility control, will start to restore “a thriving and natural ecological balance to the area and maintaining that balance into the future.” The “excess wild horses” in the two Utah HMAs “are located on semi-desert landscapes where forage and water are exceedingly scarce due to prolonged drought,” said Paul Briggs, manager of BLM’s Cedar City Field Office overseeing the roundup. This weekend, BLM plans to begin a roundup to remove 450 horses from the Blawn Wash and Bible Spring Complex HMAs in Utah. “We conduct gathers like this to ensure the health of public lands within the complex as well as the health of the wild horses and burros in the area” due to “severe drought conditions,” said Kathleen Rehberg, manager of BLM Nevada’s Humboldt River Field Office, which is overseeing the Blue Wing Complex gather. That’s three times the maximum number of 26,785 animals that BLM says federal rangelands can sustain without causing damage to vegetation, soils and other resources. There are currently 82,384 wild horses and burros roaming 27 million acres of federal herd management areas in 10 Western states. There are 230 wild horses in the HMA, which can support an estimated 50 animals. On top of that, this week BLM completed a roundup event at the Piceance-East Douglas HMA in Colorado that removed 867 wild horses.Īnd BLM yesterday released a draft environmental assessment on a planned roundup of 190 wild horses, probably not beginning until next month, in the Bordo Atravesado HMA in northern New Mexico. Those numbers don’t even include several ongoing wild horse gathers in play - two in Nevada’s Triple B Complex and Blue Wing Complex, and a third along the California-Nevada border at the Twin Peaks Herd Management Area - that will remove more than 4,000 wild horses and burros from overcrowded and parched federal land in both states. It is the Virginia herd which is often referred to as the "Chincoteague" ponies.The 13,930 permanent removals to date tops the previous record of 13,666 wild horses and burros in fiscal 2021, BLM said. The permit restricts the size of the herd to approximately 150 adult animals in order to protect the other natural resources of the wildlife refuge. The Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company owns and manages the Virginia herd, which is allowed to graze on Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge, through a special use permit issued by the U.S. The National Park Service manages the Maryland herd. These herds have divided themselves into bands of two to twelve animals and each band occupies a home range. They are separated by a fence at the Virginia/Maryland State line. The horses are split into two main herds, one on the Virginia side and one on the Maryland side of Assateague. The most plausible explanation is that they are the descendants of horses that were brought to barrier islands like Assateague in the late 17th century by mainland owners to avoid fencing laws and taxation of livestock. While this dramatic tale of struggle and survival is popular, there are no records yet that confirm it. Local folklore describes the Assateague horses as survivors of a shipwreck off the Virginia coast. Enjoy their beauty from a distance, and you can help make sure these extraordinary wild horses will continue to thrive on Assateague Island. Horses tough enough to survive the scorching heat, abundant mosquitoes, stormy weather and poor quality food found on this remote, windswept barrier island have formed a unique wild horse society. The "wild" horses on Assateague are actually feral animals, meaning that they are descendants of domestic animals that have reverted to a wild state. The wild horses escape the mosquitoes and flies of the marsh by spending time on the beach.Īssateague's wild horses are well known, even to many people who have never been to the island.
0 kommentar(er)
