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BLM Announces Winter 2015 Roundup Schedule

Posted by on January 23, 2015

BLM Announces Winter 2015 Roundup Schedule

Posted on December 20, 2014 at 2:20 PM
http://www.wildhorsepreservation.org/media/blm-announces-winter-2015-roundup-schedule

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) winter 2014/2015 roundup season is underway. Between November 2014 and March 2015, the agency will capture and remove nearly 1,000 wild horses and burros from BLM lands in five. These captured  animals will be added to the more than 48,000 currently stockpiled in holding facilities. Of note is that the removals are below previous years and the agency appears to be increasing the use of the PZP fertility control vaccine. These small steps forward are based largely on BLM’s inability to remove more horses due to lack of holding space. However, these developments open the door to increasing the use of humane fertility control as an alternative to removing massive numbers of wild horses from the range.

While all roundups are inhumane, winter roundups raise particular animal welfare concerns. BLM Standard Operating Procedures for helicopter drives currently contain no temperature restrictions and horses can be stampeded in extreme weather conditions and over treacherous winter terrain. Winter roundups are particularly hard on elderly horses and on mares, most of whom are heavily pregnant at this time of year. The terror and trauma of the helicopter stampede and capture is known to cause significant numbers of pregnant mares to spontaneously abort their foals. The mortality rate for foals born in holding pens in the months after capture is also high. For more information on this, please see AWHPC’s report on deaths at the 2010 Calico Roundup, and Animals Angels’ investigation of unreported foal deaths at the BLM’s Palomino Valley holding facility near Reno, 
Nevada. 

Updates as we receive them will be posted below.

Centennial Roundup, CA (Ridgecrest BLM): January 16-20, 2015

Public observation of this roundup, which took place on the grounds of the Naval Air Weapons Station (NWAS) at China Lake, California, was prohibited without a security clearance. Public notification about the roundup precluded observation, due to lack of time to pursue a security clearance.

In an email from Tom Campbell, Program Coordinator for the NAWS removal:

We captured 170 animals (including 1 mule and 17 burros).  All animals are at the BLM facility in Ridgecrest. Plans are to adopt (via BLM adoption program) 53 young horses and the 17 burros. The remaining horses will be returned to their capture site after treating the mares with PZP contraceptive. There were no injuries or deaths and the animals seem to be doing well at the BLM corrals. The BLM folks and the Cattoors (contract gather crew) did an absolutely outstanding job.

Humboldt HA, Nevada (Winnemucca BLM): Scheduled to begin January 26, 2015

180 horses are scheduled to be removed.

Pine Nut HMA, Nevada (Carson City BLM): Scheduled to begin January 31, 2015

300 horses are set to be captured, with 160 to be removed and 72 will be treated with PZP.

Wood Hills Non-HMA: Scheduled to begin on February 1, 2015

130 horses are scheduled to be removed.

Sulphur HMA, Utah (Cedar City BLM): Scheduled to begin February 1, 2015

100 horses are scheduled to be removed.

Little Fish Lake HMA (Battle Mountain BLM ): Scheduled to begin February 8, 2015

150 horses will be captured with 100 to be removed and 25 will be treated with PZP.

Fish Creek HMA, Nevada (Battle Mountain BLM): Schedule to begin February 14, 2015

500 horses are scheduled to be captured with 200 to be removed and 150 will be treated with PZP

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