Owyhee roundup: Number of wild horses captured tops 1,500, Nov. 27, 2016

A contractor’s helicopter pushes wild horses into a trap set up at the Owyhee complex trap in Nevada last week.

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Sixty-nine wild horses were captured on Saturday at the Owyhee Complex in Northern Nevada, bringing the total number taken from the range since the roundup began on Nov. 2 to 1,514.

No injuries or deaths were reported. Sixteen wild horses have died since the roundup started.

The Bureau of Land Management has not yet posted its gather report for Saturday as of this writing. More detailed numbers will be added to this post when the figures become available.

Saturday’s helicopter trap was set up on private land and closed to public observation. The roundup is set to return to public land on Sunday.

Through Friday, 198 wild horses have been returned to the range — including 94 mares had been treated with PZP-22 fertility control vaccine.

During this second phase of the roundup, BLM plans to capture 920 wild horses and remove 650 from the range. During the first phase, 770 wild horses (297 studs, 329 mares, 144 foals) were captured.

Captured wild horses are being transported from temporary holding to the Palomino Valley Wild Horse and Burro Adoption Center near Reno, Nevada. Horses that are not adopted will later be taken to BLM off-range pastures.

BLM justifies the roundup as an effort to “remove excess wild horses in order to prevent further deterioration of Greater Sage grouse habitat within the Sagebrush Focal Area (in northern Elko and Humboldt Counties. Overpopulation of wild horses leads to the degradation of rangeland resources, which adversely impacts habitat for other species as well as the horses themselves.”

Previously:

Owyhee roundup: 108 wild horses captured, Nov. 26, 2016

Owyhee roundup: 121 more wild horses captured on Thanksgiving, Nov. 25, 2016

Owyhee roundup: On day with public access six wild horses captured, Nov. 23, 2016

Owyhee roundup: Three wild horses euthanized, Nov. 22, 2016

Owyhee roundup: Death toll rises to 13 wild horses, Nov. 21, 2016

Owyhee roundup: 140 wild horses captures; three more die, Nov. 20, 1016

Owyhee roundup: 140 wild horses captured, another dies, Nov. 19, 2016

Owyhee roundup: Second phase begins without public observation, Nov. 18, 2016

Owyhee roundup: Phase ends with release of 45 mares, Nov. 16, 2016

Owyhee roundup: Two wild horses die, 42 released, Nov. 15, 2016

Owyhee roundup: First phase nears end with 32 more wild horses captured, Nov. 14, 2016