BLM NEWS RELEASE
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has concluded the Antelope Complex Wild Horse Gather today. About 20 mares that were gathered on the northwest side of the Dolly Varden Range in the Antelope Valley Herd Management Area (HMA) will receive fertility control and be released back to the HMA tomorrow.
“Applying fertility control will slow population growth and help us maintain population size within the HMA,” said Amy Lueders, BLM Nevada Acting State Director. “These actions also will extend the time before another gather will be required to remove excess wild horses.”
To date, the BLM Ely and Elko Districts have gathered about 1,368 excess wild horses from the Antelope Complex. The BLM had planned to gather and remove about 2,000 excess animals to reduce the wild horse population to within a range of 427 to 788 animals, which is the appropriate carrying capacity for the Complex based on available water and forage in the area.
The Antelope Complex consists of the Antelope HMA which is managed by the BLM Ely District and the Antelope Valley, Goshute, and Spruce-Pequop HMAs which are managed by the Elko District.
The gathered animals are being transported to either the Gunnison Correctional Facility in Gunnison, Utah; the Palomino Valley Center near Reno, Nev.; the Delta Wild Horse Corrals in Delta, Utah; or the Salt Lake Wild Horse and Burro Center in Herriman, Utah, where they will be prepared for the BLM adoption program.
Un-adopted horses will be placed in long-term pastures where they will be humanely cared for and retain their “wild” status and protection under the 1971 Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act. The BLM does not sell or send any horses to slaughter.
For more detailed information about the release of the mares, call the Wild Horse Gather Information Line at 775-753-0227 for a recorded message. Daily updates of the gather and photos are posted on the BLM website at: blm.gov/nv.
