BLM plans to round up and euthanize thousands of mustangs

[manifold]

Horse advocates ask court to halt mustang roundup - San Jose Mercury News

The 2,100 horses and additional 200 burros to be gathered are the most among more than two dozen roundups that began last October and are to continue through September as part of BLM's plan to cull about 12,000 of 38,000 mustangs and burros from herds roaming 10 Western states.

The agency maintains that such gathers are necessary to thin overpopulated herds causing ecological damage to the rangeland that serves as critical habitat for numerous species across much of the West, including sage grouse.

But critics said there has been no discussion or consideration of removing some of the 10,000-plus cattle and sheep currently grazing on the Twin Peaks HMA.

 

[Claudette]

The part they don't tell you is that the cattle industry uses those same public lands to graze their cattle on.

Heaven forbid they share the range with mustangs that were here long before the cattle were. Jeeze.

 

[Middleman]

They do this now and then, this is nothing new. I know. They'll offer them up for adoption first. It's sad.

 

[martybegan]

The part they don't tell you is that the cattle industry uses those same public lands to graze their cattle on.

Heaven forbid they share the range with mustangs that were here long before the cattle were. Jeeze.

Horses and domesticated cattle were both introduced to North America, probably around the same time. Bison were the original inhabitants.

Nothing wrong with opposing the culling, but facts are facts.

 

[Mr. H.]

What do you call 200 roaming bison?

A bisontennial.

 

[Lonestar_logic]

Horse advocates ask court to halt mustang roundup - San Jose Mercury News

The 2,100 horses and additional 200 burros to be gathered are the most among more than two dozen roundups that began last October and are to continue through September as part of BLM's plan to cull about 12,000 of 38,000 mustangs and burros from herds roaming 10 Western states.

The agency maintains that such gathers are necessary to thin overpopulated herds causing ecological damage to the rangeland that serves as critical habitat for numerous species across much of the West, including sage grouse.

But critics said there has been no discussion or consideration of removing some of the 10,000-plus cattle and sheep currently grazing on the Twin Peaks HMA.

This has been going on for awhile and it's vital to the survival of all the mustangs. I know it's hard for bleeding heart animal lovers to understand.

I didn't read the full article but they usually place some of these mustangs up for adoption and yes they probably will euthanize the "smooth mouths".

 

[manifold]

"These wild horses are a native species. They are not an invasive species and shouldn't be treated like one," said Rachel Fazio, one of the lawyers for the plaintiffs.


First of all, they're technically not wild, they're feral. And they are not native, they were brought here by early settlers, mostly the Spanish.

 

[WillowTree]

The part they don't tell you is that the cattle industry uses those same public lands to graze their cattle on.

Heaven forbid they share the range with mustangs that were here long before the cattle were. Jeeze.

Claudette honey, they did say that, wipe the sleep from your eyes and read it again.

 

[Meister]

It is an election year and the Obama administration needs something to hang their hat on.

 

[Quantum Windbag]

The part they don't tell you is that the cattle industry uses those same public lands to graze their cattle on.

Heaven forbid they share the range with mustangs that were here long before the cattle were. Jeeze.

More liberal revisionist history?

Cattle and horses were both introduced to North America by European colonists. It is probable that horses were here first, but not by very much, and neither is native to the area where they run wild.

If anyone wants to prevent the culling of the mustang herds they are free to adopt mustangs, but leaving them out there will actually cause more to starve than are culled by BLM. Or do you really think the government just hates horses?

 

[Baruch Menachem]

And where the horses are, there is less food for bison and antelope. Which are native.

 

[B. Kidd]

Lonestar got it right. When the wild herds overpopulate, there isn't enough water, so many end up dying an agonizing death from thirst.

 

[Toome]

A good friend of mine spends the summer traveling around in her RV with her boyfriend. She told me when she was out in the middle of nowhere in Arizona how something caught her attention out of the corner of her eye. They stopped the RV and saw a herd of wild mustangs run alongside them and disappear over the horizon. She said it was a sight to behold.

Have to wonder about the "wisdom" of some bureaucrat somewhere trying to "manage" what Nature has taken care of all along before we came around.

 

[Mr.Fitnah]

Lonestar got it right. When the wild herds overpopulate, there isn't enough water, so many end up dying an agonizing death from thirst.

From the reports that have been on the radio the conditions have been very good as far as water and grazing land.
I had not heard they planned to euthanize the horses But they always kill off quite a few do to the stress of the mass round up a drive.

 

[DiveCon]

"These wild horses are a native species. They are not an invasive species and shouldn't be treated like one," said Rachel Fazio, one of the lawyers for the plaintiffs.


First of all, they're technically not wild, they're feral. And they are not native, they were brought here by early settlers, mostly the Spanish.

WOW
another lawyer showing they might know the law but know very little about much else

 

[Old Rocks]

There are few predators for wild horses, and the range that they inhabit is environment that is very sparse in reserves. Much of the area in southeastern Oregon where that are mustang herds will only carry one cow per 150 acres. Left to on their own, they will overpopulate and overgraze the area, with very bad results for them and the other native animals that inhabit the high desert.

Now if the hunters would develop a taste for horse, and make it a sport hunt, the problem would be solved.

 

[Quantum Windbag]

There are few predators for wild horses, and the range that they inhabit is environment that is very sparse in reserves. Much of the area in southeastern Oregon where that are mustang herds will only carry one cow per 150 acres. Left to on their own, they will overpopulate and overgraze the area, with very bad results for them and the other native animals that inhabit the high desert.

Now if the hunters would develop a taste for horse, and make it a sport hunt, the problem would be solved.

No it wouldn't, the wusses would scream about people eating horses, which actually taste pretty good.

 

[AllieBaba]

"These wild horses are a native species. They are not an invasive species and shouldn't be treated like one," said Rachel Fazio, one of the lawyers for the plaintiffs.


First of all, they're technically not wild, they're feral. And they are not native, they were brought here by early settlers, mostly the Spanish.

They're also not mustangs for the most part.

Wild horses have to be culled. It's sad but a fact of life.

 

[AllieBaba]

There are few predators for wild horses, and the range that they inhabit is environment that is very sparse in reserves. Much of the area in southeastern Oregon where that are mustang herds will only carry one cow per 150 acres. Left to on their own, they will overpopulate and overgraze the area, with very bad results for them and the other native animals that inhabit the high desert.

Now if the hunters would develop a taste for horse, and make it a sport hunt, the problem would be solved.

No it wouldn't, the wusses would scream about people eating horses, which actually taste pretty good.

The original native americans hunted the original north american horses to extinction, along with the wooly mammoths.

 

[AllieBaba]

http://www.mustangs4us.com/WildlifeStatement.pdf

"The genus Equus, which includes modern horses, zebras, and asses, is the only surviving genus in a once diverse family of horses that included 27 genera. The precise date of origin for the genus Equus is unknown, but evidence documents the dispersal of Equus from North America to Eurasia approximately 2‐3 million years ago and a possible origin at about 3.4‐3.9 million years ago. Following this original emigration, several extinctions occurred in North America, with additional migrations to Asia (presumably across the Bering Land Bridge), and return migrations back to North America, over time. The last North American extinction occurred between 13,000 and 11,000 years ago.1 Had it not been for previous westward migration, over the land bridge, into northwestern Russia (Siberia) and Asia, the horse would have faced complete extinction. However, Equus survived and spread to all continents of the globe, except Australia and Antarctica."