Advocacy Groups Urge BLM to Use Humane Fertility Control Over Costly Roundups

PZPvaccine is best way to stave offBLM’s pending “billion-dollar” fiscal crisis

Washington DC (June 1, 2016) - Today, more than three dozen wild horse advocacy, rescue, and humane organizations, representing over 10 million citizens, stand united in calling on the U.S. Bureau of Land Management to make greater use of the humane fertility control vaccinePZPas a way to stave off its “billion-dollar” fiscal crisis caused by wild horseroundupsin the American West.

The organizations contend that thePZPvaccine is a cost-effective alternative to costlyroundupsand removals of wild horses from the range.

The call for greater use ofPZPcomes on the heels of arecent admissionbyBLMDirector Neil Kornze that the current system of roundups is failing. In fact, according to Kornze, theBLM’s policy of rounding up and removing, and stockpiling wild horses in holding facilities is leading up to a $1 billion crisis – the amount U.S. taxpayers will ultimately pay to warehouse thousands of wild horses for decades after theBLMhas removed them from the range.

Already, 70 percent of theBLM’s $80 million Wild Horse and Burro Program budget is spent onroundupsand removals, while less than 1 percent of that amount is spent on long available, humane and effective fertility control.

Groups supportive of the use of thePZPvaccine for humanewild horse managementinclude the:

• Alliance of Wild Horse Advocates
• American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
• American Wild Horse Conservation (formerly American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign)
• Animal Legal Defense Fund
• Animals Voice
• Animal Welfare Institute
• Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary
• Center for Animal Protection and Education
• Citizens Against Equine Slaughter
• The Cloud Foundation
• Corolla Wild Horse Fund
• Friends of a Legacy
• Front Range Equine Rescue
• Habitat for Horses
• Hidden Valley Wild Horse Protection Fund
• Horses for Life Foundation
• Humane Society of the United States
• Jicarilla Mustang Heritage Alliance
• Least Resistance Training Concepts
• Lifesavers Wild Horse Rescue
• Montgomery Creek Ranch
• National Mustang Association, Colorado Chapter
• Oregon Wild Horse & Burro Association
• Photographers for the Preservation of Wild Horses and Burros
• Pine Nut Wild Horse Advocates
• Respect 4 Horses
• Return to Freedom Wild Horse Sanctuary and Preservation
• Salt River Wild Horse Management Group
• Serengeti Foundation
• Southern Sun Farm Sanctuary
• Steadfast Steeds
• Virginia Range Wildlife Protection Association
• Wild Equid League (Colorado)
• Wild Horses of America Foundation
• Wild Horse Connection
• Wild Horse Education
• Wild Horse Observers Association
• Wild Horse Preservation League

In the last seven years alone,BLMhas removed more than 40,000 wild horses from public lands. The agency now stockpiles as many wild horses in captivity as remain free on the range.

The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) recommended the use ofPZPin its 2013 study “Using Science to Improve the BLM Wild Horse and Burro Program,” stating it is “a more affordable option than continuing to remove horses to long-term holding facilities.”

The NAS study also noted thatroundupsand removals of wild horses are actually responsible for “facilitating high rates of population growth on the range.”

The NAS added that “removals are likely to keep the population at a size that maximizes population growth rates, which in turn maximizes the number of animals that must be removed through holding facilities.”

PZPis an immunocontraceptive vaccine. It works with a mare’s immune system to produce antibodies that block sperm receptor sites on thezona pellucida, a thin membrane surrounding the ovum.

Because it is non-hormonal,PZPdoes not:

• Affect the endocrine system or natural behavior of horses.
• Create negative health side effects.
• Enter the food chain or harm other wildlife.

The vaccine is reversible and is administered with a simple dart.

PZPhas been used for more than 25 years in the wild horses on theAssateague Island National Seashorein Maryland. In that time, the herd has been brought to more sustainable numbers and the overall health of horses as a result has improved substantially. In 1990, few horses on Assateague lived past 15 years.Now, many are living 30 years or more. And, becausePZPis not permanent, the National Park Service managers can closely control the herd’s population, allowing for increased births as appropriate.

Management programs withPZPalso have helped curtail and even endroundupsin wild horse management areas in the West, such as the Pryor Mountains on the Montana/Wyoming border, McCullough Peaks in Wyoming and Spring Creek Basin and Little Book Cliffs in Colorado.

In Colorado’sSpring Creek Basin, no mustangs have been removed since 2011, thanks to aBLM-facilitated public/private partnership for humane management of this herd utilizing thePZPvaccine.

In addition, theBLMhas committed to bait trapping if, in the future, the removal of some mustangs is necessary to maintain range health. Bait trapping is a far less traumatic capture method than helicopterroundups.

APZPproject on theMcCullough Peaksrange in Wyoming, meanwhile, helped the wild horse population there achievezero population growthwithin three years.

Increased use ofPZPand a reduction in roundups and removals would also be a boon to U.S. taxpayers, helping to curtail the $1 billion crisis created by theBLM.

The public now spends about $49,000 for each mustang that is removed from the range and not adopted.PZP, meanwhile, costs about $27 per darted horse per year.

One economic model published in the Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine (Deseve, Boyles Griffin, 2011) demonstrated thatBLMcould save $8 million over 12 years by usingPZPin one herd management area alone. Multiply that by 179 HMAs and the cost-savings reach the hundreds of millions.

Resources:

• Using Science to Improve the BLM Wild Horse and Burro Program
• Q&A on PZP Fertility Control
• The Science and Conservation Center
• Myths and Facts: Native Porcine Zona Pellucida (PZP)
• Information: Animal Fertility Control Vaccine

###