ELKO - The Bureau of Land Management, Winnemucca District, has completed its portion of the Owyhee Complex Wild Horse Gather. Gather operations were suspended for the holidays for the remainder of the Owyhee Complex. Operations will resume Jan. 4 in the Owyhee Herd Management Area managed by the Elko district office. To date, 819 wild horses have been gathered and 808 wild horses were removed from the Little Owyhee HMA. Two studs were released back into the HMA. The Appropriate Management Level for the Little Owyhee HMA is 194 - 298 with a pre-gather population of approximately 1,097. Removal of the excess wild horses will relieve pressure on the limited resources available in the HMA, according to a BLM news release. Wild Horses removed to date have been transported to Palomino Valley Center near Reno and the Lichtfield Corrals near Susanville, Calif., where they will be prepared for the BLM adoption program. Un-adopted wild horses will be placed in long-term pastures where they will be humanely cared for and will retain their "wild" status and protection under the 1971 Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act. The BLM does not sell or send any horses for slaughter. "Phase 1 of the gather has been completed with the last wild horses being gathered and removed from the Little Owyhee HMA," said Gene Seidlitz, district manager of BLM's Winnemucca District. "The weather and mechanical issues on the helicopter caused several days without gather operations occurring but overall wild horses have been removed safely and humanely." Operations will resume in the Elko District's Owyhee HMA where approximately 186 wild horses will be gathered. Of the 186 wild horses gathered, 47 will be removed from the range with the remainder being released back to the HMA with approximately 46 mares being vaccinated with PZP-22, a fertility control vaccine. Any wild horses gathered above the targeted removal numbers will be released back to the HMA. The Owyhee Complex contains five Herd Managements Areas in Elko and Humboldt counties. The five HMAs are the Owyhee, Little Owyhee, Rock Creek, Little Humboldt and Snowstorm. The Owyhee, Rock Creek and Little Humboldt are managed by the Elko district office while the Little Owyhee and Snowstorm are managed by the Winnemucca district office.[[In-content Ad]]
