BLM to Use Infrared Technology to Count Wild Burros Before Roundup

Federal wildlife officials are planning to use infrared equipment to count the number ofwild burrosin an elusive eastern Utah herd ahead of a round-up next spring. This initiative is part of a new in-depth study of the animals.

TheBureau of Land Managementis utilizing the equipment to detect the animals' body heat. This method is necessary because the burros tend to scatter and blend into the landscape, making them difficult to count, as reported by theDeseret News.

"It's cutting edge. We will be able to identify burros based off their heat signature," said Gus Warr, wild horse and burro specialist for theBLMin Utah. "Burros are tough to identify and count because the jacks go off by themselves and the jennies and foals stick together. They blend into the background and they don't run. They'll just stand there and look at you."

After the wild donkeys in the Sinbad herd are counted in January, theBLMplans to round them up and remove some because the herd has grown too large for the drought-parched land near Green River to support.

They're looking to round up about 200wild burrosand remove about 130 of them from the range in March to get the herd closer to a sustainable 60 animals.

The removal is also part of a larger effort to study the Sinbad herd, which is one of just two wild burro populations in the state. Relatively little is known about the animals that roam a nearly 100,000-acre range of tough terrain in theSan Rafael Swellarea about 200 miles southeast ofSalt Lake City. Federal officials have conductedroundupsof the Sinbad herd three times in the last two decades: in 1996, 2001, and 2008.

"There's surprisingly been very little research done over the years," Warr said. "This is a huge opportunity for us because there is not much data out there. This will provide us with better management tools."

Researchers with theU.S. Geological Survey'ssciencecenter in Colorado are conducting a five-year study looking at the dynamics of the herd, including factors like habitat, mortality, movements, and survival rate by age.

"This is ground zero because you have to know how many of them are out there if you are going to manage them," Warr said.

The research is an outgrowth of a 2013 report from theNational Academy of Sciencescriticizing theBLMfor not using a more scientific approach to managing wild horses and burros on public lands.

Originally Posted By Associated Press