LAKE PLEASANT, AZ (AZFamily) \u2014 The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) plans to remove up to 1,500 wild burros from the Lake Pleasant area beginning Wednesday, citing concerns about herd health, strained resources and public safety.<\/p>\n
Officials estimate about 2,300 burros are in and around the Lake Pleasant Herd Management Area<\/a>, which spans roughly 103,000 acres of federal, state and private land near New River, Anthem, north Phoenix and north Peoria.<\/p>\n According to the BLM, contractors will carry out the operation using temporary bait and water traps made of corral panels and stocked with water, forage or both.<\/p>\n BLM says the burros will be transported humanely to the Arizona Wild Horse and Burro Training and Holding Facility in Florence. There, the animals will be prepared to be adopted or sold<\/a>.<\/p>\n The gathering comes after the BLM updated its management plan for the area through an approved environmental assessment. That decision set an appropriate management level of 140 to 250 wild burros within the herd management area.<\/p>\n The agency says the goal is to reduce the burro population to the lower end of that range while supporting the long-term health of the herd. The plan also includes fertility control measures intended to help maintain a sustainable population.<\/p>\n People interested in adopting or purchasing a wild horse or burro can find more information at blm.gov\/whb<\/a>.<\/p>\n See a spelling or grammatical error in our story? Please click here to report it<\/a>.<\/p>\n