A unique public-private nonprofit partnership in New Mexico developed
new methods for managing wild horses to maintain their genetic
diversity, sustain the health of rangelands, and reduce the need to
remove mustangs from the wild. Mt. Taylor Mustangs, a private
contractor, pioneered a humane, no-chase method for gathering wild
horses, which allows the organization to administer the wild life
contraceptive Porcine Zona Pellucida (PZP) to the animals. Partners in
the project include the U.S. Forest Service, Carson National Forest,
and Sky Mountain Wild Horse Sanctuary.
No-chase gathering of wild horses is a vast departure from older
methods, such as helicopter roundups featured in the article, which
stress horses, disrupt their social structures, and can lead to injury
and death. The second prong of the project, PZP administration,
addresses a root cause of the current crisis in wild horse management.
Namely, wild horses, a native species of North America, have been
crowded from their designated wild horse territories. Managing their
reproduction will enable them to remain free, albeit in reduced
numbers.
The diverse project partners have found common ground - maintaining
herd numbers that are sustainable for the land, while allowing wild
horses to roam free today just as their native ancestors did many
years ago. Novel projects, such as the PZP project in New Mexico,
represent an opportunity for wild horse and environmental advocates
and the government to collaborate to improve current management
practices.
