Only a Tiny Amount of Wild Horses Will Remain in Antelope Hills Herd Management Area in Wyoming
November 2, 2020The Devastating Wild Horse Roundup Continues in the Red Desert Complex of Wyoming
November 6, 2020
I am at the observation point for the helicopter roundup at Crooks Mountain Herd Management Area in the Red Desert Complex. It is 37 degrees. I am the only member of the public here today.
Well my hope was unfounded – we not only have no view of the trap that the horses will be driven into, we cannot even see the wings of the jute funneling them in. Supposedly they will drive the horses by the hill we are allowed to sit on. I would not call this “meaningful observation.”
This is the stubborn hill that I wish I could have super powers to see through – between me and the trap where the wild horses are being driven in with a helicopter. In Crooks Mountain HMA this morning about 35 horses just got captured. Mostly bays with a couple of dappled gray stallions and one pure white older stallion. They were trotting and galloping, we saw them over on a ridge then they disappeared from sight we cannot see the trap or even the lead up to the trap from this location. This is not acceptable public observation. I am not here to take pretty pictures I am here to see how the horses are doing, if anything happens to them and I am unable to do that in this location.
We were able to move observation points to a higher location with a better view closer to the trap at Crooks Mountain HMA. I still cannot see the trap or the run into it but I can see more of the horses as they go. I am on top of the stubborn hill.
We just saw a group of about 20 – a family of seven dark horses then a big family with several pintos including a stunning brown and white stallion bringing up the rear. They went back and forth and were out of sight behind a ridge for a while before they headed toward the trap.
At my new vantage point on the hill observing the helicopters bring in wild horses on Crooks Mountain HMA it is very windy! Clinging to my camera for dear life. But it is better longer view of the horses on the rolling hills. Several groups came together including a family of black horses, a family of sorrel horses and a big group with a spectacular red pinto stallion mostly white with a solid red head. They all came together into one page group of 45 with the help of both helicopters. Then they disappeared.
When we went to the temporary holding corrals it is very hard to see anything through the very heavy mesh around the pens but there were two small foals in with the mares and we were told they were both trying to nurse the same mare – clearly one of them had been separated from its mother. When I asked about injuries and deaths I heard that there were 4 horses that were going to be euthanized – a mare with a big cancerous tumor, a horse with a club foot and two old injuries – but on the Daily Gather Report only two deaths were listed:
The next morning I am at the Sweetwater Station Rest Stop which is the meeting place for the Red Desert Complex Roundup, waiting to go out to Antelope Hills to watch 16 wild mares who have been treated with PZP-22 birth control plus two stallions be released. While we are doing this the Bureau of Land Management and Cattoors the contractor doing the roundup will be rounding up wild horses in the Crooks Mountain Herd. I asked repeatedly if they could wait so that we may observe both but was told it was not convenient for them. We will be allowed to go to the observation site for the Crooks Mountain Herd roundup after the release if the helicopters are still flying, but with this wind it is highly likely they may have to quit before we get there. As it happens, that is exactly how it went. As I left the observation site yesterday it was light out so I could see that the trap site that the helicopters were driving the horses into was actually behind us and across the road. We could not see the horses going into the trap or even in the run up between the jute fencing to the trap – we were just able to see the horses moving toward the area quite far away. This is not meaningful observation. At the temporary corrals yesterday I asked the Wild Horse and Burro Expert for Lander Clay Stott repeatedly if we could move our observation spot so that we could observe the horses being moved into the trap he told me no he would not move our observation location. I guess I should feel lucky that we have not been just placed in a location to watch the sheep graze. I am here to observe the wild horses to make sure they are treated humanely and see if there are problems. These are our wild horses, managed by the Bureau of Land Management, on our public lands – I have a right to see what is happening. No doubt it is terribly inconvenient that I am even here at all.
We headed back to the trap site in Antelope hills for the release of 16 mares treated with PZP-22 and two stallions. We waited for an hour for the two trailers to bounce over the washboarded roads. They opened one trailer door and the mares began coming out. They were much slower than the stallions, not heading out at a full gallop, and more interested in immediately staying together although they all headed away. This spot is not a happy memory for them – this was where they had been driving into the trap by helicopters then were separated from their families and crowded into these strange moving trailers.
It is wonderful to see them go free but horrible knowing only 60 wild horses remain in this 159,000 acre Herd Management Area. It is a vast open land that is so much poorer without its wild horses.
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16 Comments
Of course they don’t want the public to these horrific roundups…….because they are cruel and inhumane! I was hoping their was a proposition to sign on the ballot, but I live in Sedona , Az and there was none. I pray things will change and these horrific roundups by BLM will stop! It’s all about greed between BLM and the cattlemen and it’s wrong!
This is as sickening as the slaughter industry. I’m guessing most Americans have no clue this happens. This is just the tip of the iceberg. The battle for grazing land for cattle results in helicopter roundups terrifying the horses and then they are crammed into a small space, then forced onto trailers and taken to get birth control. These are the “lucky” ones. They get released. I’ve seen photos of big pens with BLM horses in them. People can adopt and after a year own the horse. I’ve read that the unadopted ones are sold at a very low price and likely shipped to kill pens and then to slaughter in Mexico. I think this should get a lot more publicity.
I really do not understand why all of a sudden that these roundups are no longer available for the public representatives to view and document with actual visual knowledge and take photos video etc as proof for documenting these events. This should be open for all citizens of the USA to understand and document. We are the Taxpayers paying for the roundups yet our rights are being violated by by the representatives of the BLM!
The blm are corrupt they want to hide how cruel and barbaric it is. They know that if the public saw how they were doing this that they would be shut down for animal cruelty. They need to suffer for what they are doing.
So sad to learn of this, horses are beautiful creatures and should never be treated so dispicably cruel. My heart is broken. My prayers are with you helpers.
We know it’s cruel and unnecessary. Leave them alone and let them be free!! The ranchers should move the cattle to their private lands and leave our public lands to the wild horses!!
We needbto protect our wild horses and treat them humanely if we need to handle them !!!
I am sick to my stomach. What can we do. I’ve written the president, senators, representatives. This has to stop.
I want to do more. Could you talk to me.
Hi Andrea, I am at the roundup right now I do not have time to talk. Writing your Senators and Representatives and following alerts and opportunities to take action is exactly what needs to be done.
This is PUBLIC land! WHY do you have to ask permission!!?? Go to the trap and stand there! Who’s going to ticket or arrest you!? I would just be showing up and go to the trap and not speak to anyone. WHY do you ask! Just go!
They have rangers that can arrest you, that protect the operations. It is important to be there for the horses.
We all know why these innocent animals are being removed from public lands paid for by the American Taxpayer, not the BLM not the Government but the American Taxpayer.
These horses are being removed to allow ranchers free grazing for their cattle and sheep.
Why does the BLM allow cattle to graze and not the wild horses? Politics and Money!
Become a vegetarian …… don’t eat meat!
Stop this horror!!!
The Bureau of Land Management use their guns to keep us from observing the Roundups Humanely!! BLM are a Evil bunch and they do everything to keep us out! When we have the rights to be there!!
tRump and the Republicans want the land also for oil drilling. Trump put William Pendley in charge of the BLM because he is a former oil man.
Stop pzp!! They are underpopulated! You are not helping by birth control!! Dccc@dccc.org is pelosi email. 202 2243121 Our dc phone u call 24 7!!! Demand they stop blm cruelty to extinction!!!