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Over 14,000 wild horses are scheduled to be rounded up across the Western U.S.
Federal officials cite drought and overpopulation as driving factors for the removal plan
Advocates are protesting the helicopter method for rounding up horses into corrals, and push for more humane alternatives
More than 14,000 wild horses across the western United States are slated to be rounded up and moved into corrals, a plan that has drawn scrutiny from animal advocates and state officials.
According to reporting from The Colorado Sun, the effort is part of a broader strategy by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to manage growing wild horse populations amid worsening drought and limited resources on public lands. In Colorado, the removal plan will reportedly be carried out across three roundups, two of which are set to direct mustang horses into corrals using helicopters.
As outlined in the recently released BLM horse extraction schedule, the plan as of March 13 spans multiple states, including Arizona, California, Colorado, Indiana, Nevada, Montana, Oregon, Utah, and Wyoming, with at least 1,111 horses scheduled for removal in Colorado alone.
The largest Colorado operation is expected to occur in August, when 911 mustangs are scheduled to be gathered from the Piceance-East Douglas, Colo. area, a roughly 200,000-acre stretch of public land near Meeker.
A stock photo of wild horses in Colorado
Credit: Getty
The Colorado Sun noted that animal rights activists and state officials, including Colorado Governor Jared Polis, have urged the BLM to forgo helicopter roundups in favor of more humane wild-horse management methods. Still, the BLM says the removals are necessary.
“When herds grow faster than the land can support, it puts stress on public lands and on the horses,” the BLM spokesperson Steven Hall said in a statement to the outlet, adding that Colorado is experiencing record drought conditions that are straining food and water supplies.
The agency aims to reduce the state’s wild horse population from about 1,727 animals to 616, but the plan — particularly the use of helicopters — has sparked backlash.
Animal advocates argue that helicopter roundups can lead to injuries or fatalities as horses are chased for miles across difficult terrain. According to Fox 5 News, animal activists are pushing for the BLM to keep the horses wild and free and to use fertility control to manage the wild horse population in the western U.S.
A wild horse at the Sandwash Basin Wildlife Management Area near Maybell, Colo.
Credit: Getty
“If there’s a problem with overpopulation of horses, there are other means that can be done, such as using birth control,” Maya Sinstress, who protested the BLM horse removal plan outside the agency’s office in Nevada, told Fox 5 News. “Rather than capturing all of these wild horses and burros and putting them in sort of detention centers where they’re not properly cared for and where they could be sold for slaughter, there’s other solutions.”
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Per the outlet, BLM officials do plan to expand fertility control efforts, including “darting about 200 mares” with vaccines that prevent pregnancy for several years.
Wild horse removals have ramped up in recent years. Between 2020 and 2023, about 50,000 horses and burros were removed across the West, roughly double the number from the previous four years, according to The Colorado Sun.
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