America’s free-ranging horses are a western icon – and a potentially destructive non-native species that threatens native wildlife and their habitats.
In the 1500s, Spanish explorers introduced domestic horses and burros to North America.1 Over time some horses and burros escaped or were released, creat-ing a population of feral animals. Horse and burro populations on public Bureau of Land Management (BLM) managed lands and facilities have soared from 25,000 in 1971 to over 96,300 in 2014.2 Slightly more than half of the feral horses and burros – about 49,200 – range freely on public land, while 47,300 are maintained in government-run corrals and pastures. The BLM management of feral horses and burros costs over $71 million annually.
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