The U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has announced plans to conduct a wild burro gather in early January aimed at reducing the number of wild burros in the Black Mountain Herd Management Area. The operation is expected to last up to two months.
According to the BLM's web page on the Wild Horse and Burro Management program, the bureau estimates that Arizona should ideally have a total of 6,670 horses and burros, with approximately 6,205 of those being wild burros.
Amanda Dodson, Kingman field manager, said: "Animals removed from the Black Mountain Herd Management Area will be available for adoption or sale through the BLM Wild Horse and Burro Private Placement and Care Program. Wild burros essentially have no natural predators, resulting in a rapid increase in population. If not appropriately managed, herds can double in size every five years. The gather is being conducted to address herd health and overpopulation concerns with a future goal of maintaining a thriving, natural ecological balance on public lands in the Black Mountain Herd Management Area."
Dodson also noted that gathering and removing an estimated 1,000 burros could take up to two months. The operation will involve helicopter assistance and the animals will be transported to either the BLM Wild Horse and Burro facilities in Florence, Arizona or Ridgecrest, California for private placement preparation.
According to a BLM news release announcing the operation, human health and safety concerns will be addressed during this gather. These include reducing vehicle/burro crashes and damage to private property. Burros that were gathered as part of the Human Society Porcine Zona Pellucida (PZP) fertility control project will be treated with PZP and released back into their capture site.
The environmental assessment considers fertility controls as well as removal of wild burros over a 10-year period to avoid exceeding the target number of burros in the herd management area. The assessment, completed on Sept. 10, 2020, incorporated public comment, which was part of the reason for this gather.
