CEDAR CITY, Utah (ABC4) — The Bureau of Land Management is planning a two-week operation to move more than 400 wild horses out of several Utah counties as the population has exceeded what officials say is sustainable.
Officials from the BLM Cedar City Field Office announced Thursday that they plan to gather and remove hundreds of wild horses from the Sulphur Herd Management Area in Beaver, Iron, and Millard counties next week.
The operation — which will involve low-flying helicopters to drive and trap wild horses — will begin on Tuesday, Aug. 13, and last approximately two weeks, according to a BLM news release.
There are currently 606 wild horses on the rangeland, however, officials said the area can only sustain a maximum population of 250 horses. For that reason, officials will administer population growth suppression vaccines to mares to reduce their fertility as well as remove 420 horses from the range.
The removed wild horses will be transported to the Axtell Off-Range Contract Wild Horse Facility in central Utah, one of five such facilities across the state.
The facility has 40 holding pens — which can hold more than 2,000 horses at once — where the horses are kept while awaiting adoption or purchase.
“The BLM is committed to protecting animal welfare and providing humane care and treatment to all wild horses within our off-range holding facilities,” BLM Utah State Office Wild Horse and Burro Branch Chief Gus Warr previously said. “Animals in BLM’s charge continue to be cared for and protected by the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act, even after they are removed from the range.”
The operation announcement came on the same day that the BLM hosted public tours of the Axtell Off-Range Facility.
While the window to tour the facility has passed, members of the public who wish to observe the gathering operation next week can join BLM-escorted tours by meeting at the Border Inn, located on the Utah-Nevada border at 4:30 a.m. MDT beginning on Tuesday.
Those interested in observing the process can also use the gather hotline at 801-539-4050 to learn more. For information on how to adopt or purchase a wild horse, see the BLM website or call 866-468-7826.
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