Now that almost a month has passed since completion of the disastrous McCullough Peaks bait trap roundup, I wanted to provide an in-depth
look at the effects the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) unnecessary actions had on this beloved herd. I'll begin by providing a brief summary of the roundup and then focus on genealogical and behavioral impacts noted from personal observation in the field.
Roundup Summary
The bait trap roundup began the week of 11/27/23 and concluded on 03/08/24 with 40 horses, aged 4 months to 15 years, permanently removed from the range. On 01/23/24, the first horses, Brumby, Bandero, Sky Dancer, and Kat Ballou were trapped in the West Trap and removed from McCullough Peaks. Sadly, Kat Ballou died tragically from head trauma on 01/24/24. A necropsy report confirmed that Kat Ballou died after running into a fence post in the BLM temporary holding corral, perhaps trying to escape from the enclosure. It must be noted that the BLM left these frightened young foals unattended during the time of Kat Ballou's death, which, in my opinion, is an act of gross incompetence.
As outlined in the BLM’s own Comprehensive Animal Welfare Program (CAWP) Guideline, dependent foals are not to be separated from their mothers. CAWP Guideline, Page 8, Section II.D.1.C. of the Standards states “Mares/jennies and their dependent foals must not be separated unless for safe transport”. Three of the four young horses removed on 01/23/24, 4-month-old Sky Dancer, 5-month-old Bandero and 13-month-old Kat Ballou would be classified as dependent foals and were seen nursing from their mothers every 30-60 minutes in the days leading up to their removal. For the duration of the roundup, the BLM did not comply with this particular guideline and continually removed dependent foals from their mothers. The other dependent foals removed during the bait trap roundup included 6-month-old Thora, 8-month-old, Tchoupitoulis, 12-month-old Tala, and 12-month-old Stormrider.
During the month of February, the BLM moved the focus of their trapping operations from the West Trap to the East Trap. Horses in the area of the trap at that time were Tahlequah's band (including Thor, Takoda and Thora), Splaash's band, and a few bachelor stallions. Sadly, all of these horses were easily drawn to the trap and would return again and again to feed. The horses stayed near the trap waiting for it to be refilled with hay and would visit the trap once or twice daily. This behavior made it easy for the BLM to trap and remove all the horses they wanted in less than a week. During that time period, the BLM removed nine horses aged 6 months to 5 years. The horses removed were Thor and Takoda's foal, Thora; five of Tahlequah's youngest offspring: Tala, Tempest, Tabasco, Top Gun and Tomahawk; Splaash's two youngest mares, Juniper and Trinity, and the young bachelor stallion, Kentucky.
The BLM stated in their official documentation that they would “focus their removal on horses 5 years old and younger”. Young horses are easier to place for adoption and during the first few months of the roundup, it appeared that the BLM was targeting this specific age group. However, as the roundup progressed, the BLM no longer complied with this internal directive. This change was noted on 03/02/24, with the permanent removal of 15-year-old stallion, San Jose, and his 13-year-old mare, Black Beauty.
As observers during San Jose and Black Beauty's capture in the West Trap, we were initially told that San Jose was being removed from the range temporarily because he was impeding the trapping operation. San Jose was monopolizing the trap and would only allow members of his family to enter to feed. During the last bait trapping operation in 2013, the stallion, Tecumseh, also monopolized the trap. He was captured and moved during the trapping operation and once trapping was completed, Tecumseh was returned to the range. In the case of San Jose, we were told that his mare, Black Beauty, was also being taken to help keep him calm. Below is a video of the pair in the West Trap.
Once San Jose and Black Beauty were loaded into the trailer, we were then told that because neither was over the age of 15, both could possibly be taken from the range permanently. Official BLM documentation stipulates that they “may remove horses from across the age classes except over age 15”. After we confirmed that San Jose and Black Beauty had been permanently removed, we realized that the BLM had changed the focus of their bait trapping operation. BLM was no longer targeting the young but began to indiscriminately remove horses, no matter the age. It appeared they just wanted to meet their quota prior to completion of the roundup.
Unfortunately, San Jose and Black Beauty weren't the only older horses removed in early March. Sadly, 19 of the 40 horses permanently removed from the range were adult horses aged from 6-15 years. Most of these older horses were taken from the well-known Bridger herd, a herd nearly decimated during the last week of trapping. Starting on 03/04/24, 25 of the 75 member Bridger herd were permanently removed by the BLM. Nine of these 25 horses were over 10 years of age including stallions, Las Vegas, Garth, Boreal, Stillwater, Kiamichi and Istaga, and mares, Lark, Smoke, and Ms. Pac-Man. Because horses in this age group are not good candidates for adoption, BLM designates those over 10 years of age as “Sale Authority Horses”, and, if not rescued by a sanctuary, they could find their way into kill pens and eventually the slaughter pipeline.
On 03/07/24, the BLM decided to increase the target number of horses to be removed from 35 to 43. They attempted to justify this increase by stating that they were now adding the 2023 foals to the total population count. The BLM was well aware that five horses had died since the bait trapping began (Precious, Weeleetka, Legacy, Signal and Tupi) and that four additional horses were missing and presumed deceased. Regrettably, the BLM decided to ignore these facts and continued removing horses to meet their new target of 43.
During the morning of 03/08/24, I watched as four BLM employees, with two trucks and an empty horse trailer, eyed members of the Bridger herd approaching the East Trap. The horses ate hay placed near the trap, but by some miracle, most did not enter. After more than an hour passed, BLM personnel approached the empty trap and began to dismantle it. Although I was unsure at the time, I hoped this action signaled the end of the roundup, and on the following day, this was confirmed.
In the afternoon of 03/08/24, the BLM released ten elder horses they removed from the range during their final week of trapping. These horses were aged between 15-24 years. Some, like the stallion, Traveler and the mare, Miley, had their entire families removed and were returned to the range alone. Others, like older mares, Chevron, Palette, Tarpan and Story Girl were released back to the range without their longtime band stallions.
It was noted upon release that the stallion, Traveler, had been injured when in the custody of the BLM. The 18-year-old stallion had a large wound on his left side and was limping as he exited the BLM trailer. Traveler was seen just days before his removal by the BLM and he appeared to be in good health without injury. Thankfully, in the weeks since Traveler’s return his condition has improved, however, that doesn’t excuse the BLM’s brutal treatment of this senior stallion.
The 39 horses that survived the roundup are currently being held at the Rock Springs Wild Horse Holding Facility in Wyoming. All will be offered for adoption in an online event tentatively scheduled for May of 2024. Information about all 40 horses trapped/removed during the roundup can be found at the link below.
Roundup Consequences
Right now, the total population of horses at McCullough Peaks, including those born in 2023, is 138. This is two horses below the high Appropriate Management Level (AML) of 140 and below the number needed to keep the herd genetically viable. Leading horse geneticist, Dr. Gus Cothran, states that at a minimum, herd size must be maintained at 150 horses to ensure genetic viability and a healthy population. Lower population numbers lead to more in-breeding, resulting in the population being vulnerable to multiple health problems. According to the BLM’s own Wild Horse and Burro Handbook, “A minimum population size of 50 effective breeding animals (a total population size of about 150-200 animals) is currently recommended to maintain an acceptable level of genetic diversity within reproducing WH&B populations (Cothran, 2009)”.
Aside from the issue of inbreeding, the McCullough Peaks herd is an aging herd with 59 of the 138 horses over age 15 and 23 of those 59 over the age of 20. With nearly 50% of the herd holding senior status, it is believed that natural attrition within the population could decrease the herd size significantly within the next few years. When this anticipated die-off is coupled with the use of the sterilant, GonaCon, the McCullough Peaks herd could quickly be driven to extinction.
An extremely troubling issue surrounding this bait trap roundup is the complete eradication of specific bloodlines within the herd. BLM stated in their official documentation that they would focus on removing horses from bloodlines that "were well-represented on the range", but in many cases, they did not. One family that immediately comes to mind is that of the stallion Traveler and his mare, Moonshadow. During this roundup, both Moonshadow and her two offspring, 2021 colt, Magic and 2022 colt, Merlin, were removed from the range. Merlin is the only known offspring of the stallion, Traveler. In removing Merlin and his mother, Moonshadow, the BLM has completely wiped out the stallion, Traveler’s bloodline. After being cruelly returned to the range as a lone bachelor, it is doubtful that 18-year-old stallion, Traveler, will sire any additional foals during his lifetime.
When the BLM trapped the beloved foal, Thora, they removed the only offspring of the stallion, Thor, and the mare, Takoda. BLM attempted to justify their removal of Thora by stating that she was inbred, since her sire, Thor, bred his half-sister’s daughter, Takoda. With such a small population, inbreeding can be a real problem, and at McCullough Peaks, horses even more closely related than Thor and Takoda have produced offspring. The BLM is well aware that removing horses from this small population will make inbreeding even more prevalent, therefore, using inbreeding as an excuse for removal of Thora is ludicrous.
Prior to the beginning of the bait trap roundup, I was told by BLM personnel that they wanted to "break-up" the stallion, Tahlequah's band. Again, they said the concern was inbreeding. In their efforts to dismantle Tahlequah's family, the BLM trapped and removed five of Tahlequah's youngest offspring. These five offspring were the result of Tahlequah breeding three of his mares: his lead mare Taboo, and two of her daughters, Tula and Theya. Since Tahlequah is not related to any of these mares, wiping out an entire generation of their progeny seems excessive, to say the least.
The BLM’s permanent removal of the mare, Tokala’s, only two offspring on the range, 2019 mare, Trinity, and 2020 stallion, Kentucky, is also quite puzzling. Trinity's sire is unknown, but Kentucky was sired by the stallion, Takula. Since their mother, Tokala, is just 7 years old, it's possible that she could produce additional foals in the future. However, Kentucky's sire, Takula, is no longer a band stallion. These days 12-year-old Takula prefers the bachelor life, making it highly unlikely that he will sire any additional foals in the future. If the BLM were truly removing only horses from families that were "well represented on the range", it is unclear why these two young horses would be singled out for removal, thus wiping out both Tokala and Takula's bloodlines for no justifiable reason.
As noted in the above examples, the BLM did not seem to consider genealogy and lineage when choosing which horses to remove from McCullough Peaks. It's obvious that the health and diversity of this herd was not a priority to them.
Since the conclusion of the roundup, many of the horses seem quite a bit more skittish than they once were. That's understandable considering the level of trauma they experienced. The Red Point herd seems particularly wary and has recently hidden away in an area of the range they rarely visit. Mares who lost their dependent foals, like Takoda, Keota, and Sage, still seem extremely subdued. Las Vegas’ long time mares, Oakley, Cactus Cate, Sonoma and Sonoma and Las Vegas’ 2-year-old filly, Sable, have been quite agitated and don’t appear to be adjusting well to the absence of their band stallion and lead mare, Smoke. They’re now traveling with the stallion, Rebel’s band, and hopefully, they’ll become more comfortable with this new situation in time. And then there’s the elder stallion, Traveler, forced into bachelorhood after his entire family was taken from him, now wandering the range alone.
Not surprisingly, the range seems quiet now. Perhaps it’s because so many members of the herd are gone and the remaining horses are solemnly mourning their absence. It will take time before the horses adjust to this new normal forced upon them by a needless roundup. Their world has been turned upside down, but they'll adapt. We just have to be patient.
The Adoption Question
With 39 members of the McCullough Peaks herd currently being held at the Rock Springs Wild Horse Holding Facility, it’s hard to look past our sorrow and focus on what we can possibly do for them now. Sadly, no matter how much we wish for it or how many times we request it, the BLM will never return any of these horses to the range. They will never again be free. I know it’s hard to process that fact, but we have put our sadness aside and work towards ensuring these horses find the best homes possible.
Since last month, we’ve been working with the sanctuary, “For the Love of Aria”, to help all of our beloved McCullough Peaks horses find a soft place to land. For the Love of Aria is working directly with other sanctuaries and private adopters to ensure that each and every one of these horses finds a place where they’ll be safe and loved.
I know many of you care about the McCullough Peaks horses as much as I do, so if you want to help them find homes, please donate what you can to For the Love of Aria below. Please specify that your donation is for the McCullough Peaks herd. For the Love of Aria is a 501c3 so all of your donations are tax deductible. EIN 84-2492909.
Donate to "For the Love of Aria"
Thank you all so much for your continued love and support for the McCullough Peaks herd. You're appreciated more than you'll ever know!