Wyoming
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By Sarah Beckwith, Public Affairs Specialist, Wind River/Big Horn Basin District
Wild horses in seven Herd Management Areas (HMAs) within the Cody, Lander, Rawlins and Worland field office areas were gathered this fall between October 16 and November 14.
Approximately 1,800 wild horses were gathered from the McCullough Peaks HMA, the Fifteenmile HMA, and the Red Desert Complex which includes the Green Mountain, Stewart Creek, Crooks Mountain, Antelope Hills and Lost Creek HMAs. Of these, more than 1,200 were shipped to wild horse facilities in Rock Springs, Wyoming and Canon City, Colorado, where they are being prepared for adoption. The remaining horses were returned to their former ranges.
The majority of breeding age mares selected for release back to their former ranges were treated with Porcine Zona Pellucida (PZP), a fertility control vaccine. It is anticipated that PZP will slow horse population growth rate in these HMAs and reduce the frequency of future gathers.
Many of the horses that were removed from the range will be gentled and trained at the Mantle Wild Horse Training and Adoption Center in Wheatland, Wyoming; the Wyoming Honor Farm in Riverton; and the Colorado Department of Corrections facility in Canon City. Through the Wild Horse Inmate Program, select horses taken to the Honor Farm and the Canon City facility will receive personal and extensive training as part of an inmate rehabilitation program. The trained horses will be available for adoption in Wyoming beginning in spring, 2010.
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