Can Birth Control Help Manage Arizona's Wild Burro Population?

OATMAN, AZ – A wild burro approaches a saloon in the sleepy Arizona town of Oatman, tapping its hooves on the sun-weathered porch. Right on cue, the saloon owner comes out, pats its head, and offers it a bite-sized hay cube. Oatman, with buildings aged by the dusty, hot air and freckled by lonely shops and taverns, is home to burros that are living remnants of a former gold mining town that imported burros to help with the daily burden of labor in the 1860s.

The gold is long gone, but the burros that were no longer needed escaped or were released to the wild. Their descendants have since turned into a tourist draw for a town where more than 400 burros in nearby Black Mountain outnumber the human population nearly four to one. However, the burros that are an economic boon for Oatman are considered an over-populated nuisance by some in western Arizona.

The Bureau of Land Management houses more than 45,000 wild horses and burros in holding facilities, costing taxpayers$50,000 each, according to theBLM. TheBLMestimates that Arizona has more than 5,000wild burrosin the state, more than three times what government officials can manage. Burros aren’t native to the area and have no natural predators, according to theBLM. They also are highly social, affectionate, and trusting, unwittingly endangering people.

In their quest for food, burros also take the most high-nutrient items for themselves, competing withlivestockand native species such as bighorn sheep and ultimately affecting Arizona’s agricultural industry.

In June, federal officials, animaladvocacygroups, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and Arizona Congressman Paul Gosar, R-Arizona, were among others who met in Washington to discuss ways to manage public lands, including reducing the burro population.

Burros are protected by the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971, passed to stop inhumane population control efforts like the unauthorized hunting and selling of the animals. Federal protection for burros authorizes theBLMto gather or remove excess animals from an area but prohibits them from being killed.

Burro Birth Control

Permanently or temporarily sterilizing female burros, called jennies, can be costly and complicated, government officials said. TheBLMwill conduct a pilot program with the national humane society to implement a fertility vaccine known asPZP, or porcine zona pellucida. Adam Eggers, aBLMspokesman, estimated a required environmental assessment would be completed by the fall.

The vaccine is only temporary, typically lasting one to two years. But officials hope effective implementation could reduce costs for rounding up burros and placing them in holding pens. Barangan, at the Washington meeting, described it as a “trial run.”

Dr. J.J. Goicoechea, Nevada state veterinarian, responded that the effectiveness ofPZPis inconsistent. It works on smaller herds of wild horses and burros, but larger herds would need to be permanently sterilized, he said.

Netherlands disagrees. She said permanent sterilization is a terrible option to keep the wild burro bands healthy, becausewild burroscan’t be offered follow-up care, and sterilization would interfere with a herd’s hormones and dynamic. It would break up herds, she said.

Netherlands said she has been trying to provide the tools to theBLMand agricultural facilities by offering volunteers to “dart” the burros with PZP vaccine, similar to a Salt River Wild Horse Management Group program that has been successful in managing wild horse populationsusing that method. She said that if theBLMagrees, the organization will assign volunteers to the specific bands to administer PZP to all animals in a short amount of time. TheBLMsaid working with volunteers is something they need to explore further. Netherlands said using volunteer groups is the best option. Volunteers will keep records on individual burros, ensuring no animals are forgotten or darted twice, and that each mare has an opportunity to contribute DNA to its herd.

TheBLMsaid that the cost of a single dart ofPZPis around $30. The Humane Society of the United States said theBLMcould save nearly $172 million over the next 10 years by using PZP to manage wild horse and burro populations instead of keeping them in holding facilities.

However, California Congressman Tom McClintock, who chairs the House subcommittee onfederal lands, said that the application has been unsuccessful, according to the meeting video.

Burro Adoptions

For years, theBLMhas conducted burro adoptions, with thousands ofwild burrosturned over to owners across the country over more than four decades. But adoptions have been decreasing, which forces theBLMto care for wild burros in holding pens at a high cost to taxpayers.

TheBLMis trying to increase adoptions by advertising on billboards in Phoenix. Adoption applications are available through their website and at holding pens. TheBLMadopted out300 burros nationwide last year and 35 from the Florence holding facility, according to Roger Oyler, who works in theBLM’s Florence holding facility.

Eggers said the roundup burros in Arizona are sent to a holding facility in Florence, sharing space with wild horses. From there, prison inmates help train the animals to make them more adoptable, which typically includes getting the animals to be halter-broken and trained to pull a cart. The adoption system is handled in Arizona instead of out-of-state, which means the burros can be adopted more quickly than in previous years and with less stress to the animals.

Netherlands, who has adopted 24 burros that roam her rural Arizona property, thinks that the animals should be available for adoption before they reach a long-term holding facility.

The minimumadoption feefor each wild horse or burro is $125, while jennies with an un-weaned foal are $250. Eggers said potential owners are required to fill out a significant amount of paperwork to make sure the animals go to homes that can properly accommodate them.

Oyler said the ownership title is followed for one year after adoption to make sure burros are not sold to kill buyers. Horses and burros can end up in slaughterhouses in Mexico and Canada when they are sold in auctions without any follow-up. In late July, Oyler had only 10 burros left in his holding facility.

Other Options

Unrestricted sales ofwild burrosis another population-control option many are reluctant to make. Ginger Kathrens, executive director of The Cloud Foundation, a wild-horseadvocacygroup, said that 80 percent of Americans don’t want wild horses and burros slaughtered.

Keith Norris ofthe Wildlife Society, a nonprofit group to promote wildlife stewardship through education, countered that theBLMshould lift its restriction on sales, even if burros end up with potential kill buyers.

Another approach focuses on moving wild horses and burros away from populated areas in Arizona. TheBLMapproved a research project proposed by the Arizona Game and Fish department and the Arizona Department of Transportation to evaluate the movements of burros and collisions near Lake Pleasant area, perhaps by placing GPS collars on the animals. Also, ADOT and a nationalwild horse and burro programfinanced a combined $150,000 for more fencing along Arizona interstates and freeways, mostly along I-17.

Netherlands suggests using diversionary feeding or water sources to get burros away from problem areas.

Originally posted by Cronkite News