Mustangs’ Wildness Is Subject of Lively Debate

Wild or not wild?

The debate rages anytime anyone makes a move to protect, round up or otherwise discuss the fate of the horses and burros that roam free across parts of 10 states in the West.

Protection advocates say the horses are wild, many the descendants of the ones the Spanish conquistadors brought to America in the early 1500s.

Ranchers and other backers of government roundups say the horses are formerly domesticated animals that were turned out by farmers and ranchers, especially during the Great Depression.

Government officials say the truth probably lies somewhere in between.

One of the biggest contributors to the wild horse herds currently roaming the West was probably the U.S. cavalry and people who raised them for the cavalry, said Maxine Shane, chief spokeswoman for the BLM’s National Wild Horse and Burro Center in Reno.

The Spanish horses spread across the plains from 1540 to 1770, Shane said. Since then, she said, there’s been a “melting pot” of various horse herds.

Some have similar characteristics and could be descendants of the Spanish steeds, she said, “but most of our horses are not direct descendants of the Spanish horses.”

A significant number historically were used by ranchers, farmers and miners during the spring and summer and then returned to the range in the winter, she said.

When the Free-Roaming Wild Horse and Burro Act was passed in 1971, ranchers were given an opportunity to claim any horses that were theirs on the open range, she said.

The debate over whether the horses are wild or not arises when horse advocates argue the equines have more right to the range than do the later-introduced, domesticated cattle.

Scientists say horses evolved as a species in North America, including Nevada, tens of millions of years ago but for some unknown reason disappeared 8,000 to 10,000 years ago until their reintroduction in the 1500s.

“The truth is, the horses were definitely there first,” said Trina Bellak, an attorney and lobbyist for the American Horse Defense Fund in Potomac, Md.

Rep. Jim Gibbons (R-Nev.) is among those who take exception to the claim the horses are wild.

“These are not wild horses. That would indicate they were native, indigenous horses. They were turned loose and became wild,” said Gibbons, who advocates more roundups.

“The mustang is not a native species in Nevada. They are the creation of inbreeding and mixed breeding.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

BLM Roundup

Wild horse and burro populations by state, estimated by the Bureau of Land Management as of Sept. 30, 2000:

*--*

State Horses Burros Arizona 275 2,519 California 3,492 1,481 Colorado 943 0 Idaho 669 0 Montana 189 0 Nevada 24,321 775 New Mexico 70 0 Oregon 2,635 10 Utah 3,420 210 Wyoming 7,615 0 Total 43,629 4,995

*--*

*

Horses and burros removed in roundups in the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2000:

*--*

State Horses Burros Arizona 37 752 California 495 742 Colorado 141 0 Idaho 94 0 Montana 1 0 Nevada 4,022 132 New Mexico 0 0 Oregon 250 0 Utah 1,268 0 Wyoming 733 1 Total 7,041 1,627

*--*

Horses and burros adopted out in the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2000:

*

*--*

State Horses Burros Arizona 217 71 California 623 164 Colorado 309 45 Eastern States 1,723 499 Idaho 156 45 Montana 114 37 Nevada 39 7 New Mexico 483 117 Oregon 329 46 Utah 257 18 Wyoming 438 25 Nat’l field office 392 48 Total 5,080 1,122

*--*