#The Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) proposed fiscal year 2025 budget includes $15 million for permanent sterilization efforts for wild horses and burros.
#The agency requested nearly $171 million for its wild horse and burro management program, including funding for an additional 25 employees — 20 of whom would be dedicated to the sterilization program. The request does not detail the methods of sterilization.
#More than half the nation’s nearly 83,000 wild horses reside in Nevada.
#Wild horse advocacy groups are concerned about permanent sterilization, saying it will have “far-reaching” consequences and that it is inhumane.
#The BLM is also studying if there are ways short-term, reversible fertility measures can last longer.
#This year, the agency received $142 million in funding, including up to $11 million to continue implementation of reversible immunocontraceptive vaccines.