A recently dug mass grave containing the remains of horses has reportedly been found within the boundaries of the Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge, according to The Examiner, the Associated Press and numerous other reports.
(A wild mustang in Nevada, photographed in 2004; Image: Ikluft)
Paul Steblein, a project leader for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, admitted to AP that 396 horses were removed from the refuge last week. The roundup was "low and quiet," Steblein said, for the safety of the workers and the horses. At least one wild horse advocate reportedly was chased by a helicopter and a truck.
"We didn't send out any advance warning, but we've had gathers every year in September," Steblein told AP. "We didn't deny it. When asked, we admitted it."
Two years ago, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service revised its plan for managing wild horses and burros at the refuge, which is located in northwestern Nevada. At the time, Ren Lohoefener, Director of the Service's Pacific Region, made the following statement:
"After two years of planning and multiple opportunities for public review and comment, we believe our program will humanely maintain horse and burro populations at levels that will not allow their impact on habitat, wildlife and cultural resources to increase, and will lower the risk these animals pose to public safety. We've also built in additional safeguards to help ensure we find good homes for adopted animals."
It was estimated then that 140 to 180 horses and 15 to 20 burros would be removed each year, nearly three times less than what was actually rounded up at Sheldon.
More recently, the refuge issued the following statment on its website:
"Horses and burros are not native to Sheldon Refuge. They are descended from domestic stock turned loose around the turn of the twentieth century. They are primary grass eaters, and their grazing can devasatat native vegetation and cause severe damage to riparian habitat. Periodic horse and burro roundups are required to keep their numbers in check and reduce their impacts on native wildlife."
As to the fate of the removed horses, USFWS claims they are "processed with expert staff and a veterinarian."
2010 has been a target year for the service for some time. Officials appear to be sticking to the goals stated in the 2008 press release, Sheldon's Horse and Burro Management Program sought "to maintain relatively stable horse and burro population numbers at the 2007 population levels of approximately 800 horses and 90 burros until completion of the CCP, scheduled for 2010."
This year's massive roundup of wild horses happened after a federal judge denied a request by the mustang advocacy group Grass Roots Horse to halt the action.
Laura Leigh, a spokesperson for Grass Roots Horse, told AP, "The Fish and Wildlife Service has created an avenue for horses to be gathered without public notice and without any accountability. If they are doing nothing wrong, then why all the secrecy?"
The roundup was part of a nationwide federal effort to reduce wild horse populations. Experts on both sides of the issue debate the matter in the following video.
Tags: Animals, Current Events, Horses, Human Behavior, Humans
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