THE AMERICAN MUSTANG


ore to and from mining operations. Later in the mid-1800s when gold was discovered in the lower Colorado River Valley, the popularity of burros soared and the gold rush became a burro rush with many mines and prospectors counting on their bur- ros as a critical partner in their operations. When the gold rush declined in the late 1800s many of these animals were abandoned along with the min- ing claims; the hardy animals, already well-adapted to desert living, thrived in areas where water was available. The varied appearance and history of mustangs


and burros contributes to their broad appeal in the U.S. and even in many European countries. It also contributes to the controversies, confusion, and dis- agreement over how they should be managed and even what they should be called. Biologists technically consider today’s free-roam-


ing horses and burros feral, that is, animals living in the wild following their escape or release from do- mestic stock. However, in the 1971 Wild Free- Roaming Horses and Burros Act (the Act), Congress legally declared that the “wild free-roaming horses and burros” roaming public lands managed by the U.S. Department of Interior Bureau of Land Man- agement (BLM) and the U.S. Department of Agri- culture (USDA) Forest Service (FS) were “living symbols of the historic and pioneer spirit of the West” that “contribute to the diversity of life forms within the Nation and enrich the lives of the Amer- ican People.”3 This same legislation protected the animals from commercial exploitation and ordered the BLM to manage the animals where they existed onBLMand FS lands in 1971. Key elements of this legislation include that it only applies to animals living on lands managed by the BLM and the FS, but not to free-roaming feral horses living on lands managed by the National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Department of Defense, or state or tribal governments. The Act gives the direction that all management activities shall be at the “minimum feasible level,” that will “preserve and maintain a thriving natural ecological balance and multiple-use relationship,” in keeping with the Bureau’s multiple use mandate to manage public lands for many uses such as fish and wildlife development and utiliza- tion, mineral and energy development, livestock grazing, timber production, rights of way, and out- door recreation. The intention of the Act was not to create herds of animals intensively managed similar to domestic animals, but instead to preserve the wild free-roaming nature of the animals while also pro- tecting the “natural ecological balance of all wildlife species which inhabit such lands, particularly en- dangered wildlife species.” The Act also includes provisions for removing excess animals where the BLM determines overpopulations exist and directs the agency to achieve “appropriate management lev- els” by removal, destruction, or sterilization of ani- mals. While the law provides for the destruction of


“old, sick and lame” animals as well as excess ani- mals “for which an adoption demand by qualified individuals does not exist in the most humane and cost efficient manner possible,” these are provisions which the BLM has never fully implemented. Ini- tially, this was because of public opinion and later because subsequent Congressional appropriations language prohibited the destruction of healthy ani- mals.4 It was not until 1976 and 1978 that addi- tional legislation authorized the BLM to use helicopters and motorized vehicles to gather and remove animals from the range and provided appro- priated funding for the management of wild horses and burros.5 The BLM and the FS are land and resource management agencies, and wild horses and burros are the only animals for which these agencies have direct management responsibilities. From the 1950s through 1971 it was estimated


there were about 25,000 wild horses and burros on BLM lands; by 1978 this estimate had grown to 60,000.6 Today the BLM estimates they manage about 40,815 wild horses and 8,394 wild burros roaming approximately 32 million acres in the west- ern U.S. (Fig. 1).7 The majority of the animals (about 25,000) are in 85 herd management areas (HMAs) in Nevada, with smaller numbers of ani- mals in Wyoming, California, Utah, Oregon, Colo- rado, Arizona, Idaho, Montana, and New Mexico (Table 1). Nationally, the free-roaming population exceeds the number (about 26,700) that the BLM has determined can exist in balance with other uses and rangeland resources by about 22,500 animals. As early as 1982, the number of excess animals removed from public lands exceeded the number that could be adopted to the public. The Act re- quired the BLM to humanely destroy unadoptable animals, but limited initiation of this action drew a public response that caused the BLM in 1984 to put a moratorium in place on the destruction of healthy animals. Large scale adoptions in the early 1980s also met with disapproval since many of these ani- mals were resold for slaughter. As a result, regu- lations implemented in 1986 prevented further large scale adoptions. In 1998 a clause was added to the adoption agreement that required adopters to prom- ise that they had no intention of selling adopted animals for slaughter. Adoptions to good homes peaked in 2002 with 7746 animals adopted that year. Since that time adoptions have faced a steady decline, with only 2311 animals adopted in 2013. During this time, removals of excess animals ranged from about 6000 to 12,000 animals per year. About 40% of these animals were mares, and most mares are pregnant when removed from the range. Although no breeding is allowed following removal from the range, a significant number of foals are born in captivity, which also adds to the numbers in holding. The result of this imbalance between sup- ply (of excess horses that must be removed from the range) and demand (interest in adoption to good homes) is that although the BLM has adopted over


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