BLM Allocates Millions for Wild Horse Birth Control Research

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is set to spend $11 million over the next five years on research aimed at controlling the growth of wild horse populations. This initiative seeks to develop new tools for managing healthy horses and burros onpublic lands, reducing the need for animal removal.

Research Projects Funded by BLM

The funding will support 21 research projects, including:

• A one-year project to develop a minimally invasive surgical sterilization method for wild horse mares that requires no incisions.
• Two projects over two years to explore different surgical approaches for tubal ligation in mares.
• A two-year study on Gonocon, an approved contraceptive vaccine for equids.
• A two-year project to develop a new, permanent contraceptive vaccine for wild horse mares.
• A three-year project to create an injectable agent that inactivates hormones and decreases gonad viability in both sexes.

Scientists aim to develop humane on-range management techniques, including longer-lasting fertility-control vaccines and methods for spaying and neutering wild horses.

The Challenge of Overpopulation

Wild horse herds can double in size every four years due to a lack of natural predators. Overpopulation, coupled with drought, can degrade land and animal health. Over the past 40 years, theBLMhas adopted out over 230,000 horses and burros removed from the range, but adoption rates have declined significantly.

In the early 2000s, nearly 8,000 horses were adopted annually, but recent years have seen numbers drop to around 2,500. At a recent adoption event in Rock Springs, only five horses found new homes.

As of November,BLMshort-term holding facilities in Wyoming housed 1,116 wild horses, with 16,823 in facilities nationwide. Over 31,000 are in long-term pastures, with 443 in eco-sanctuaries.

BLM's Commitment to Sustainable Management

Mike Tupper,BLMdeputy assistant director for resources and planning, emphasized the need to address population growth on the range due to the high cost of off-range care and the challenge of finding adopters. TheBLMis committed to developing sustainable management tools for the benefit of the animals and the land.

The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) reported in 2013 that no highly effective, easily delivered, and affordable fertility-control methods were available. The promisingPZPvaccine is limited to 1-2 years of effectiveness and requires repeated administration to impact herd sizes.

Since theBLMtook responsibility under the Wild Free-roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971, the number of animals onpublic landshas more than doubled, leading to overpopulation in many herds.

In the past year, the population increased by 18%, with nearly 60,000 horses and burros on range and an additional 47,000 in off-range care.

Concerns from Advocacy Groups

Governor Matt Mead expressed concern over the adequacy of theBLM's spending, while wild horse advocacy groups, including the American Wild Horse Conservation (formerly American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign), criticized theBLM's approach as potentially destructive.

Deniz Bolbol, communications director for the American Wild Horse Conservation, argued that permanent sterilization could lead to extinction and exacerbate the genetic crisis facing wild horses and burros.

Originally Posted By Rawlins Times