Ely, Nev. – The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Ely District, Caliente Field Office concluded the Seaman Herd Area (HA) Emergency Wild Horse Gather on Friday, July 26. The BLM gathered and removed 30 wild horses from the southern end of the Seaman HA in south-central Nevada, about 100 miles south of Ely or 40 miles northwest of Alamo, Nev. The animals were at risk of death if they remained on the range because of reduced water availability caused by severe drought conditions. Post-gather monitoring reveals that the BLM gathered all the horses in the area.
The horses were transported to the Delta Wild Horse and Burro Facility in Delta, Utah, to be prepared for the BLM’s adoption program. Un-adopted wild 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 wild horses to slaughter.
The emergency gather began on July 23. An Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) veterinarian was on site daily through the gather to evaluate animal conditions and provide recommendations to the on-site BLM wild horse and burro specialist for care and treatment. BLM staff utilized the Henneke body condition scale to classify gathered wild horses. On a scale from one to nine (one being poor condition and nine being extremely fat), the horses were generally a body condition score of two and three, with a few wild horses observed to be higher or lower.
The BLM’s Seaman HA Emergency Wild Horse Gather website can be accessed at this address: http://www.blm.gov/nv/st/en/ prog/wh_b/test.html
For more information, contact Chris Hanefeld, BLM Ely District public affairs specialist, at (775) 289-1842 or [email protected].