Ecological Checks
and Balances
Habitat
is very important to wild horses, burros, and domestic livestock. Because
wild horses and burros have no true natural predators, other than an
occasional mountain lion, herds increase at relatively high rates. Populations
generally increase at a rate of about 18-20 percent per year. In years
of adverse weather and poor forage conditions the rate may decline to
as low as 5 percent, but in good years the rate may be as high as 40
percent.
When populations
of wild horses, wild burros, or domestic livestock exceed the capabilities
of their habitat, the environment begins to decline, and there is no
longer a thriving natural ecological balance. Ranchers must remove excess
livestock and state government officials must remove excess wildlife.
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) conducts the removal of wild horses
and burros from public lands. Their removal is based on years of monitoring
the habitat and observations of the herd.
If
the decline is prolonged, it leads to poor rangeland health and accelerates
a decrease in the health of the animals. Therefore, the BLM annually
monitors the condition of the animals and their habitat. The BLM will
also periodically count the wild horses and burros. Resource specialists
from other disciplines also monitor the rangelands. The BLM assesses
the monitoring and census data and determines if and how many animals
must be removed from the range. If this is not done, the consequences
to the herds can be injury or death from starvation, dehydration, or
susceptibility to the elements. When the BLM determines that there are
too many wild horses or burros, a "gather plan" and environmental
analysis is prepared, and the public is invited to comment.
Animals
are normally gathered using helicopters and herded into portable traps.
Excess animals may also be caught in traps using food or water as bait.
To protect the animals, stallions are separated from the mares, and
if need be, weaned foals are separated from the larger animals. The
BLM maintains very strict requirements about the gathering of wild horses
and burros. But what happens after they are gathered? To
examine the solutions click here.
