Wild horse roundup triggers controversy (CNN)

[rosyreef]

---

Members don't see this ad.

Very interesting article.. I'm still surprised by how few know about this or about wild horses in the western US in general:

http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/01/03/wild.horses.government.roundup/index.html?hpt=C1

 

[Willowhand]

The tone of the article and comments made by the protesting groups suggest to me that, underneath concerns about whether current roundup methods are humane, the main agenda is to end roundups. Period. And while I sympathize with those who suggest the use of safer, less stressful methods (though these would likely require more funding), I think the idea of ending population management entirely is simply irresponsible. Yes, horses are beautiful and have become a national symbol, but they are also human-introduced non-indigenous megafauna who have a significant impact on their environment. Do they deserve humane treatment? Absolutely! Does that mean allowing free-ranging populations to grow unchecked? No!

Those are my thoughts on the matter, and I welcome other opinions --particularly those better informed and more directly involved than myself 🙂

 

[bbeventer]

I completely agree with you Willow. The herds must be maintained at a reasonable size to allow adequate food supply for all involved (horses and free range cattle) as well as reduce disease and impact on other wildlife.

I would much rather have these herds round up each year and be reduced then see them eliminated from an outbreak of strangles or ranchers shooting them to allow for more resources for their cattle.

Don't forget about the east coast wild pony herds as well, though it seems that PETA has.

 

[turquoisewolves]

Correct me if I'm wrong.......
But practically all species of wildlife are controlled to some degree or another by the Fish and Wildlife Department, right? Like deer, antelope, elk...etc they do all of these studies and allow for so many hunting permits per region per year for population control.
Well, I would rather the mustangs be rounded up and relocated and used for other purposes. But my point is.....all animals on public land are attempted to be "controlled" because we as humans have messed up natural predators and the balance of things (along with horses not necessarily being natural to begin with). It just seems cruel for people to want them to be left alone for a huge population explosion and for these creatures to just suffer from disease and malnutrition in the name of freedom.
Maybe I am missing something.....

 

[drwildlife]

I agree with all of you.

"Gorey says the activists would oppose the roundups even if there weren't any injuries, because they just want the management of the horses to stop."

I also agree to this. In high school I guess you could of said I was an "activist" like these people. Mainly because I wasn't educated enough to understand the complexities behind population management. If you let the mustangs take over, then you could be killing off another species.

And, another thing. These technically aren't wild horses. They're not native to here. Our native horses left this area of the world thousands upon thousands of years ago (not to get into religious conflict, just stating something I know) and what we have now is a result of the Spanish accidentally setting a few free - which is known as an invasive species...no one is against the capture of boas and pythons released in Florida but, they're completely against the round-up of horses. Both do the same thing to the environment - ones just more appealing.

 

[Ausheya]

But... didn't horses originally evolve in the Americas? Not to start an argument over semantics here, but I think the fact that horses so quickly got a foothold in the ecosystem when they were reintroduced means that they shouldn't really have died out or whatever in the first place. We went over this briefly in one of my classes last quarter. The horses in the Americas were probably killed off by early man when he got here over the Bering Strait; they probably didn't go extinct due to natural causes. Even though they're technically an introduced species now, it's reintroduced. I don't really think they count as an invasive species.

I don't really know too much about the modern roundups, but I think it's funny that this article is coming out now because I just started reading a biography of Wild Horse Annie (AKA Velma Johnston) a few days ago.

I think the roundups are the best of however-many evils. It's better than letting random citizens go out and poison their watering holes, which apparently used to happen. They also used to let whoever wanted to round them up do it. Untrained, uncaring, they could do whatever they wanted with the mustangs. And at least now the government tries to sell some--or most, I don't really know--of them, instead of packing them all into trucks to transport to wherever to be slaughtered. Maybe there are better ways to do it, and maybe someday someone will come up with a feasible solution, but for now I don't think there are any good ones that are also workable on as large of a scale as the government needs.

 

[bbeventer]

" I think the fact that horses so quickly got a foothold in the ecosystem when they were reintroduced means that they shouldn't really have died out or whatever in the first place."

I don't think this could be further from the truth for several resons. First off if you were going to apply it to horses you would have to also apply it to other invasive species such as the Zebra mussel or the Asian Carp and secondly the horse that originated thosands of years ago in North America Pliohippus was quite different then the horse we know today and had natural predators.

 

[EllieGirl89]

But... didn't horses originally evolve in the Americas? Not to start an argument over semantics here, but I think the fact that horses so quickly got a foothold in the ecosystem when they were reintroduced means that they shouldn't really have died out or whatever in the first place. We went over this briefly in one of my classes last quarter. The horses in the Americas were probably killed off by early man when he got here over the Bering Strait; they probably didn't go extinct due to natural causes. Even though they're technically an introduced species now, it's reintroduced. I don't really think they count as an invasive species.

I don't really know too much about the modern roundups, but I think it's funny that this article is coming out now because I just started reading a biography of Wild Horse Annie (AKA Velma Johnston) a few days ago.

I think the roundups are the best of however-many evils. It's better than letting random citizens go out and poison their watering holes, which apparently used to happen. They also used to let whoever wanted to round them up do it. Untrained, uncaring, they could do whatever they wanted with the mustangs. And at least now the government tries to sell some--or most, I don't really know--of them, instead of packing them all into trucks to transport to wherever to be slaughtered. Maybe there are better ways to do it, and maybe someday someone will come up with a feasible solution, but for now I don't think there are any good ones that are also workable on as large of a scale as the government needs.

If horses evolved in the Americas, and then the early Americans killed them off (meaning they weren't able to have mass migrations to other areas which would allow them to continue to evolve elsewhere) then wouldn't we not have horses today?

Anywho, if any of you guys are interested in learning more about the BLM and America's mustangs, I strongly suggest the book "Oregon's Living Legends" by Andi Harmon. She's been working with mustangs her entire life and does a lot of work with the BLM helping to raise orphan foals and such. She's got a LOT of knowledge and some good ideas.

 

[drwildlife]

But... didn't horses originally evolve in the Americas?

Yes, they originally did but they crossed over the Bering strait during one of the great interchanges. They continued evolving, so to speak, in Asia where they are natural fauna there.

Maybe if more people could/would purchase the mustangs then it wouldn't be such a big "problem."

 

[that redhead]

I'm from Maryland, and there are wild pony round ups off Assateague Island every year. I've heard of the ponies being successfully homed, as I'm sure some of the Mustangs/Burros are. My biggest problem with that, though, is that the equine economy is already on its knees. Horses are being shipped to slaughter in inhumane conditions, abandoned on roadside or other people's farms or even kept in varying states of neglect. You can barely GIVE away a nice mellow show pony with miles and a good head on his shoulders, and that's even in the more populated areas, not just rural backcountry. Now imagine a wild animal that is going to need not only basic necessities like food, shelter and medical care but hours upon hours of patience and training that people aren't even willing to put into their yearlings!

Sure, there are more humane ways to round them up. Sure, the population does need some level of control to protect the investment of the government in the land itself. But rounding up horses and putting them into the already bottomed-out equine market is just irresponsible. If they're just euth'ing them, I suppose I don't quite have as much of a problem with it. But it just seems they're asking for more neglected/abused/abandoned/worthless horses.

 

[eventualeventer]

I may be wrong, but my understanding is that they are kept on "preserves" *cough* feedlots ad infinitum because it is too politically unsavory (possibly illegal? no idea) to send them to slaughter or admit to euthanizing them routinely. The ones adopted out are in the minority.

 

[welelu]

You guys should look into the scientific article ' Reversible chemical fertility control in feral horses' by Jay Kirkpatrick PhD. It is a very interesting alternative to helicopter roundups and as Thatredhead pointed out, dumping more horses on an already over-burdened equine economy.