The North Lander roundup targets 2,715 for permanent removal from four Herd Management Areas (HMAs) in central Wyoming: Conant Creek, Dishpan Butte, Muskrat Basin and Rock Creek Mountain. The total acreage of the complex is 375,292. BLM says that all four HMAs can only support 320-536 wild horses.
BLM stated that if they hit or exceed numbers for removal, they may release mares treated with GonaCon in this first round of a ten-year gather environmental assessment they approved to reach their target number on the range using multiple forms of fertility control including IUDs and gelding.
The captives will be transported to the Wheatland corrals for branding, vaccination and prep for adoption, sale and long-term holding.
At this time, BLM is planning to do a post roundup census to determine numbers for release. At this time, BLM has no plans to geld stallions or use IUDs. BLM said they will be using GonaCon, a long lasting hormonal treatment on mares that renders mares sterile for 4-10 years. The lifespan of a mare in the wild is 18-24 years. Depending on the age of the mare treated, she could be sterile for the rest of her life.
Our team is onsite.
You can access the archived “week 1” from the North Lander roundup by clicking HERE.
Cumulative totals to date :
Captured: 2,576
(1,005 Stallions, 1,101 Mares, and 470 Foals)
Shipped to Wheatland: 2,461
(968 Stallions, 1,050 Mares, and 443 Foals)
BLM reports that 16 have died.
We know of one additional death, a foal put down in field that lagged behind. BLM said the foal had “lax tendons” and killed it. How many have actually died during this operation is an unknown. So we know at least 15 have died, even if it is not counted.
A 10-year old grey mare was kicked in the head. A foal was reported as having wobblers and was put down. A 3-year-old stallion broke his neck at temporary holding. A bay foal mare was found deceased at temporary holding, necropsy determined capture myopathy to be the cause. A bay yearling stallion was diagnosed with Wobbler Syndrome (this is the second time BLM said there was “wobblers”). A 2-year-old sorrel mare suffered a broken neck while working through the chute. A bay foal stud died in temporary holding due to capture myopathy. Bay foal mare died in temporary holding due to capture myopathy. A 12-year-old bay paint stallion was put down, BLM said “a preexisting head injury.” 8-year-old bay stallion BLM said had “previously broken right rear pastern” and was put down. A 15-yr-old bay mare suffered a brain aneurysm, determined by necropsy (BLM is not counting this stroke as roundup related). A black mare foal had a congenital spinal deformity and was put down. A 4-yr-old bay mare suffered a broken neck while being transported in a trailer. A bay foal mare was found deceased at temporary holding: necropsy determined head/neck trauma to be the cause. A 4-year-old bay stallion was put down, BLM said due to a preexisting reproductive organ injury. A white foal stallion was found with a broken leg at temporary holding and was euthanized.
Additional notes: 2 were orphaned and sent to the “prison program” at Honor Farm. Wyoming Honor Farm. 3 foals have died from Capture Myopathy (Capture stress, exertional heatstroke, hyperthermia, malignant hyperthermia, myoglobinuria, myopathy)
Please make a call. Our wild ones desperately need an enforceable welfare policy that is crafted with transparency, public participation and complies with current welfare standards for equines.
The phone number for Congress is: (202) 224-3121. You should put it in your speed dial. Call the number tell the operator who your representative is (or where you live if you do not know) and you will be connected to an aide in the office. Ask to register your concerns and request. Ask that an amendment to the funding bill for the BLM Wild Horse and Burro Program be crafted to simply create a line item for funding for “Rulemaking to create an enforceable welfare policy.”
July 22: No fly day. Survey
July 21: 44(10 Stallions, 23 Mares, and 11 Foals. All were horses that had moved outside of the HMA.) 2 died: A white foal stallion was found with a broken leg at temporary holding and was euthanized.
July 20: 70 (30 Stallions, 28 Mares, and 12 Foals)
July 19: 8 (4 Stallions, 3 Mares, and 1 Foals) with temperature high in the mid 80s.
July 18: No capture operation today. Trap moved to new location. 114(36 Stallions, 64 Mares, and 14 Foals) shipped to Wheatland.
July 17: 127 (58 Stallions, 55 Mares, and 14 Foals). Temperatures mid 60s-80s.
July 16: 80 (27 Stallions, 39 Mares, and 14 Foals) temperatures in the mid 80s at Muskrat.
July 15: 66 (25 Stallions, 27 Mares, and 14 Foals) as temperatures continue to fall and rain moves in. BLM had a day to finally ship enough horses to get numbers down in holding. 218 (64 Stallions, 103 Mares, and 51 Foals) shipped to Wheatland.
July 14
257 (91 Stallions, 114 Mares, and 52 Foals) wild horses were captured at the same trap on the rim at Muskrat. The heat has broken in the area and temperature highs were in the mid-80s.
3 deaths: A 4-yr-old bay mare suffered a broken neck while being transported in a trailer. A 15-yr-old bay mare suffered a brain aneurysm, determined by necropsy (BLM is not counting this stroke as roundup related). A black mare foal had a congenital spinal deformity and was put down.
Capture will continue in Muskrat tomorrow.
July 13
BLM captured 251 wild horses 251 (115 Stallions, 93 Mares, and 43 Foals). Temperature when capture ended was 91 degrees. Temperatures while waiting to go to temporary hit 101.
Trap was about 1.7 miles from observation.
BLM killed a foal in field for “lax tendons.” Apparently because the foal never entered the trap, BLM does not count her death.
A bit of a wind storm hit temporary on our arrival and we had to wait until it subsided to take a 5 minute run around to see the 253 wild horses that were in the temporary corrals. BLM claims that they had to negotiate this run around with the permittee (yes, one of the permittees that runs cows in the complex is also being subcontracted as holding).
We have a hearing in one of our grazing cases Monday morning and will update you soon.
July 12
BLM squeezed the same trap at Muskrat for the 6th day in a row. It seems there were about 4 bands: one that went off HMA during the chaos of the last few days, one seemed to travel into private property, one in Muskrat and one, perhaps, from Rock Creek.
Trailers seem to be traveling rather fast again on the rough road and only slowing as they reach the area before the cattle guard (where our observer is parked). It takes a good half an hour to travel that rough and dusty road, that has gotten worse the more it is driven on, from trap to the pavement. We are worried about respiratory and tear duct issues developing in holding.
Capture ended early. 33 (9 Stallions, 15 Mares, and 8 Foals) were captured in the last squeeze of this location.
If time allows a new trap will be set. If there is no time, tomorrow will be a “no fly day.” We are editing video and updating from the Blue Wing trap as well in Nevada.
July 11
BLM remained at the “no real access trap” for the 5th day in a row.
129 (47 Stallions, 56 Mares, and 26 Foals) wild horses were captured.
168 (43 Stallions, 91 Mares, and 34 Foals) were shipped to Wheatland. BLM will not allow observation of loading in the morning onto semi trucks either.
BLM will use the same trap at Muskrat tomorrow to finish squeezing out the wild horses in the area.
Young horse peeks over the top of another that was run in the heat and got sweaty and then covered in thick road dust. That dust went in their nooses and tear ducts as well setting them up for potential medical problems.
July 10
Access to view trap continued to be overly restricted as operations continued for the fourth day at this trap in Muskrat Basin.
194 (65 Stallions, 97 Mares, and 32 Foals) were captured.
Temperatures reached 89 degrees on the dusty two-track trailers plowed through. The road BLM is using is rutted, dusty and in many spots several inches of pure dust that creates a thick and lingering cloud that obscures vision. Winds stayed around 2 mph until around 2 pm making the thick dust hang in the air.
You can see the thick dust on the horses and the trailer
Horses are nasal obligate breathers, they can only breathe through their nose. In (normal) dusty environments there are several ailments that can impact horses that require veterinary care. There is also a link between dust and heaves in horses.
The type of thick dust these horses are breathing on this road for over 30 minutes (it’s a long drive) is more than intense and inappropriate. Flaring nostrils usually means a horse is trying to get more air (as a nasal obligate breather).
Dust abatement is a requirement in the BLM Comprehensive Animal Welfare Program (CAWP) at trap because dust churned up by the helicopter is really, really bad for horses.
But doing dust abatement on the road or choosing a different trap? Different capture methods? Too much trouble?
Above: There was another observer at trap so we stayed to at least get a glimpse of captives it was more than likely we would not even see from the overly restricted observation location. Documenting trailers can show you a lot: are horses down, injured, how young they are, how sweaty they had been and more.
Our observer saw babies as young tiny as perhaps one week old.
Some of the trailers slowed when they reached our observers vehicle and slowed. Some just kept flying by.
BLM will continue at this trap tomorrow.
Instead of moving trap to horses… BLM is just pushing horses from further away to trap…. and continuing to deny meaningful access.
July 9:
The third day at this trap. The trap is situated in the Muskrat HMA and has been used to remove horses from both Muskrat and Rock Creek. Our equipment had temperatures at observation range from 55 to 89 degrees.
159 (64 Stallions, 71 Mares, and 24 Foals) were captured.
4 died:
A bay foal stud died in temporary holding due to capture myopathy. Bay foal mare died in temporary holding due to capture myopathy.
A 12-year-old bay paint stallion was put down, BLM said “a preexisting head injury.” 8-year-old bay stallion BLM said had “previously broken right rear pastern” and was put down.
This is simply the long version of our apology to you and the horses for not being able to bring you any assessment of the days operation except to say they really are hitting that area hard. There has been no access to view wings, trap, loading, sorting. We cannot even tell when a run ends. BLM said they would try something new today and moved observation to a new location. The location was still over a mile from trap, tucked back further than where trucks and trailers returning from temporary would wait during active trapping. However, the location was overridden by the pilot (even though there was only one observer and the location was similar to a hundred others we have watched from historically). So we had to race back to the “lack of anything meaningful” location.
So there is not much to show you. At our location we cannot even tell when a run ends while two helicopters are pushing horses or even the body condition unless horses run on our side of the trap close enough to enlarge.
Below: What we saw were bands run into the valley. The groups fracture. The groups are pushed behind the hill toward trap. Many of the groups scattered back over the mountain to be pursued out of site. We cannot tell when a run ends because we cannot see.
We also saw cows and calves running from the helicopter again today.
Observation issue illustrated (several of you received the “new location” email from BLM and have asked to see what happened)
A heat advisory has been issued in the area of trapping from noon Thursday through 10 a.m. Sunday. The heat advisory means to use caution because the event will last multiple days. A heat advisory is different than an “excessive heat warning” like the one being experienced at the Blue Wing Complex roundup this week. (Learn more about heat and air warnings and safety HERE).
One run came through our remote observation area close enough to take a clear enough photo to see detail after it was enlarged.
Our team remains onsite.
You can reach the archived “week 1” from the North Lander roundup by clicking HERE.
Please make a call. Our wild ones desperately need an enforceable welfare policy that is crafted with transparency, public participation and complies with current welfare standards for equines.
The phone number for Congress is: (202) 224-3121. You should put it in your speed dial. Call the number tell the operator who your representative is (or where you live if you do not know) and you will be connected to an aide in the office. Ask to register your concerns and request. Ask that an amendment to the funding bill for the BLM Wild Horse and Burro Program be crafted to simply create a line item for funding for “Rulemaking to create an enforceable welfare policy.”
Our team is also onsite at the Blue Wing roundup in Nevada. We will update you soon. There has been severe issues with the internet connection and even using a “hotspot.” We are unsure if heat is playing a factor.
Thank you for keeping WHE on the frontline in the fight to protect and preserve our treasured wild ones!
Categories: Wild Horse Education
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