The U.S. Forest Service announced last week that a roundup of 200 wild horses in a mountainous area northwest of Las Vegas would begin May 10, 2018, in association with the Bureau of Land Management.
The released the following statement:
Due to the availability of the Gather Contractor, the wild horse emergency gather activities will now start in the Cold Creek area of Wheeler Pass Joint Management Area (JMA), on Thursday, May 10, with afternoon set-up. The Forest Service, the lead agency on the gather will host a community meeting to provide information on the gather tonight, Wednesday, May 9, at 6 p.m., at the Cold Creek Volunteer Fire Department, 28431 Cold Creek Road, Cold Creek, Nevada, before the gather begins.
The USDA Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) retained the contractor to gather 200 wild horses in the Cold Creek area. These animals lack adequate forage and many are at risk of dying without immediate intervention. The gathered horses that are healthy enough to withstand the travel will immediately be transported the holding facility in Ridgecrest, California.
The gathered horses that are not able to initially make the trip to the Ridgecrest holding facility will immediately be moved to a temporary holding facility where they will receive health assessments and feeding. Once medically cleared by on-site veterinarians the horses will be transported to a BLM holding facility in Ridgecrest, California, where they will be made available for adoption or transferred to BLM short-term corrals or long-term pastures.
“The contractor was available earlier than originally planned, which buys us time to help the Cold Creek horses survive,” said Bill Dunkelberger, Forest Supervisor for the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest “Every day counts for these horses.”
To reduce stress on the horses and ensure the success of the gather, so the Forest Service and BLM requests no drones or helicopters fly within a five-mile radius of the gather. Because of the need for wild horses to adjust to the corrals in a quick and safe manner, only essential wild horse personnel will be allowed at the gather sites during initial operations. Depending on the animals’ adjustment, public viewing through an escorted tour of the temporary holding facility may be arranged at some point during the gather. A qualified veterinarian will be on-site during all gather operations.
For additional information about this emergency gather, visit fs.usda.gov/htnf. To learn more about BLM’s wild horse and burro adoption program click here.
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