Wild mustangs are herded by helicopter into temporary corrals before they are hauled in trailers from public rangeland. They are then auctioned off or sent to live in government-funded holding areas.
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Rescuing wild horses

Wild mustangs are herded by helicopter into temporary corrals before they are hauled in trailers from public rangeland. They are then auctioned off or sent to live in government-funded holding areas.

Wild mustangs are herded by helicopter into temporary corrals before they are hauled in trailers from public rangeland. They are then auctioned off or sent to live in government-funded holding areas.  (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)

Sally Summers searches for mustangs in the Yerington, Nev., area. She founded Horse Power, a Reno nonprofit that works to protect wild horses and burros.

Sally Summers searches for mustangs in the Yerington, Nev., area. She founded Horse Power, a Reno nonprofit that works to protect wild horses and burros.  (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)

A cowboy working for the Bureau of Land Management lassos a young mustang during a recent roundup.

A cowboy working for the Bureau of Land Management lassos a young mustang during a recent roundup.  (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)

The Bureau of Land Management holds mustangs in temporary corrals before hauling them away.

The Bureau of Land Management holds mustangs in temporary corrals before hauling them away.  (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)

A wild horse accustomed to free handouts approaches the truck of Sally Summers, a wild horse advocate who helped create the specialty license plate used to raise awareness of the issue. She frowns on giving food to horses that are supposed to remain wild.

A wild horse accustomed to free handouts approaches the truck of Sally Summers, a wild horse advocate who helped create the specialty license plate used to raise awareness of the issue. She frowns on giving food to horses that are supposed to remain wild.   (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)

Stacey Paulson scans the horizon in search of wild mustangs.

Stacey Paulson scans the horizon in search of wild mustangs.  (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)

Wild horses on their first day of captivity after being rounded up by the Bureau of Land Management.

Wild horses on their first day of captivity after being rounded up by the Bureau of Land Management.   (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)

Groups trying to protect horses and burros in the wild say the Bureau of Land Management is managing the populations toward extinction with its aggressive roundups.

Groups trying to protect horses and burros in the wild say the Bureau of Land Management is managing the populations toward extinction with its aggressive roundups.  (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)

Wild horses roam the hills in rural Nevada.

Wild horses roam the hills in rural Nevada.  (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)

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