Madeleine Pickens Rides to the Rescue of US Wild Horses

I was reading a story in the Washington Post this morning about the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the crisis facing their management (or containment, anyway) of feral horses in the western states. I'm trying to understand this important issue facing horse welfare in our country.

The government has threatened that euthanasia is the Final Solution to the crisis in their pens out west.

About a third of the way through the story, I was sure I was dreaming when I read that horse-lover Madeleine Pickens, wife of bazillionaire energy-evangelist and philanthropist T. Boone Pickens, was planning to take all those wild horses off the BLM's hands. The Post reported that she is shopping for a suitable real estate package for the horses.

Ms. Pickens was a vocal opponent of horse slaughter in the state of Texas and helped to close the plant outside Dallas. After Hurricane Katrina, the Pickens took matters into their own hands to rescue animals and people, donating $7 million and circumventing FEMA with a Continental Airlines airlift of 800 pets out of the disaster zone.

The problem that motivated Ms. Pickens, who also owns racehorses such as the now-retired star Rock Hard Ten, is a law that allows the BLM to euthanize a horse that is older than 10 and has failed to be adopted after three tries.

Organizations, including the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), are promoting contraceptive intervention as a possible aid in stabilizing the increasing wild horse population. Watch this blog for more details on the HSUS work in this area, as well as the Pickens Plan.

Mom Always Liked You Best: Wild Horse Research Shows That Mares Pamper Colts More than Fillies

Wild horse mares and foals in Australia are also being studied by the Wild Horse Research Group at the University of Queensland's School of Veterinary Science. GPS transmitters have been attached to some horses to monitor their location and the distances covered. Learn more about the Australian studies at www.wildhorseresearch.com. Australia has more wild horses (and wild camels) than any country on earth. (Photo by Dr Chris Pollitt)

What will a mother sacrifice for her child? Lots more for her son than for her daughter, if she's a wild horse mare.

Researchers from the University of Pretoria in South Africa trekked to the mountains of New Zealand to observe wild horse parental behavior, and suggest that the behavior mirrors human tendencies.

The mares often sacrificed more for colts in order to provide more milk and spent more time playing with colts than with fillies. Physical condition of mares raising colts was often worse than those raising fillies. Researchers presume that the most active and best fed colts developed into the strongest and healthiest stallions. Since horses are polygynous, the mare's genetic influence is increased by a colt who will go on to breed more offspring.

The scientists did mention the catch that if a colt does not grow up to be a dominant male, he will not be able to pass on the mother's genetic code, whereas chances are good that fillies do at least produce a number of offspring over their lifetime.

The scientific research will be published in an upcoming issue of the journal Animal Behavior, but is capsulated in a terrific article prepared by the Discovery channel's web site. Comparisons are made to sex-preference studies in human mothers.

I have read studies like this before but this report is interesting because of the focus not just on the size of colts vs fillies but also the physical activity levels. Do colts play more and grow larger and stronger because they receive better care and nutrition from the mares? Or does their larger size and activity level require more nutrition and attention?

BLM Announcement: Mass "Euthanasia" of Unadoptable Wild Horses A Possibility

I wanted to post on this subject when I first read news of it, but thought it was important to wait for the official press release from the Bureau of Land Management, the federal agency charged with the "management" of herds of wild horses roaming the American West, as dictated by a federal law that was designed to protect wild horses and burros and keep them wild. Today, it is estimated that more "wild" horses live in government-owned or -subsidized pens than in the wild.

Buried in this press release is an announcement of critical importance as it marks a major sea change in management policy for the BLM's wild horse management scheme.

The word "euthanasia" is used incorrectly in this press release; what the government is proposing to do is more technically "culling", albeit on a major scale. This is what is done in some other countries, such as Australia.

Here's the statement:

BLM Confronts Challenges in the West's
Wild Horse and Burro Program

The Bureau of Land Management is facing a number of difficult challenges in the National Wild Horse and Burro Program. Our goal in the West is to manage healthy, free-roaming herds on healthy rangelands; however, it is becoming increasingly difficult to do so.

Wild horses and burros in the West have virtually no natural predators and their herd sizes can double about every four years. As a result, the agency must remove thousands of animals from Western public rangelands each year to ensure that herd sizes are consistent with the land’s capacity to support them. As of June 2008, there are more than 30,000 wild horses and burros that are fed and cared for at short-term and long-term holding facilities.

It is essential to keep the BLM’s wild horse and burro program in balance. Right now, the cost of keeping these animals in holding facilities is spiraling out of control and preventing the agency from successfully managing other parts of the program. For example, this fiscal year, holding costs will exceed $26 million, more than three-fourths of the BLM’s congressional appropriation of about $37 million for this program.

In addition, rising energy prices have increased costs. In one year alone, energy costs for transportation and feed have increased almost $4 million. It is clear the agency cannot continue current removal and holding practices under existing and projected budgets. Neither can the BLM allow horses to multiply unchecked on the range without causing an environmental disaster.

That's why the BLM is exploring options to exercise its legal authority to (1) sell older and certain other unadopted animals “without limitation” to any willing buyers and (2) euthanize those wild horses and burros for which no adoption demand exists. We know this is not a popular option, but we are at a critical point where we must consider using the legal authorities allowed us.

The BLM welcomes your input as we work to improve the program and the welfare of the West’s wild horses and burros within our budget. To leave feedback on this program, please call 1-800-710-7597.

(end of BLM official statement)