Location: The Alamo Herd Management Area (HMA) lies in west central Arizona on lands adjoining Alamo Lake and portions of the Bill Williams, Santa Maria and Big Sandy rivers. This HMA can be reached by driving west from Wickenberg, Arizona on U.S. Highway 60 (about 50 miles toward Wenen, Arizona) and then north 30 miles on a paved county road toward Alamo Lake State Park.

 

Size: Bordered on the north by the Big Sandy HMA and on the west by the Havasu HMA, the Alamo contains some 341,000 acres of land.

 

Habitat: Wild burros roam freely throughout this area, which is largely steep, rock and rugged. The lower areas contain gentle slopes cut with broad sandy washes. Sonoran Desert vegetation, including palo verde and ironwood trees, plant themselves among the washes. Summers are hot with temperatures occasionally exceeding 120 degrees. Wild burros share this habitat with desert bighorn sheep, desert mule deer, coyotes, fox, jackrabbits and a variety of small desert mammals. Other animals making their homes here include the desert tortoise and several species of lizards and rattlesnakes. Overhead, the bald eagle and southwestern willow flycatcher can be spotted in the sky.

 

History: Wild burros in this area are descendants of burros abandoned by early prospectors, miners and local rangers. Having evolved in the deserts of North Africa, burros adapted well to Arizona’s desert environment and flourished in the relatively lush Sonoran Desert. Large and thriving herds of burros were soon seen as a threat to other species in times of drought. To reduce the threat, local ranchers were issued government furnished ammunition during the droughts of the 1930s and 1950s to shoot burros. This helped relieve over-utilization of stressed vegetation and the severe competition for scarce water.