CARSON CITY - The Bureau of Land Management, Carson City District, Stillwater Field Office concluded the Wassuk Wild Horse Gather on Nov. 12. The preliminary numbers of animals gathered were 457 wild horses. Because of poor body condition of the majority of the gathered horses, along with impacts of overpopulation and drought, the horses planned to be released back to the range, including mares planned to be vaccinated with fertility control, were instead removed.
The gather area was located 12 miles southeast of Yerington and west of Walker Lake.
The purpose of the gather was to reduce the herd populations by removing excess wild horses and to implement population growth controls to achieve or maintain a thriving natural ecological balance on the public lands, according to a news release from the BLM.
The pre-gather population estimation was 623 wild horses, and the appropriate management level (AML) for the Herd Management Area (HMA) is 110-165. The post-gather population is approximately 170 wild horses in the Wassuk HMA.
The BLM intends to still continue with population controls and activities to achieve and maintain AML over the next 10 years by returning every two to three years to treat or re-treat mares with fertility control vaccine as well as to remove excess wild horses.
The gathered animals were transported to the Palomino Valley Center near Reno, where they will be prepared for the BLM adoption program. The BLM does not sell or send any horses to slaughter. Horses removed from the Wassuk HMA will be available for adoption through the BLM Wild Horse and Burro Adoption Program.
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