2016 Wood Hills Emergency Wild Horse Gather
Gather Complete
9/4/16 - 9/9/16
Purpose of Gather:
To remove excess wild horses from the Wood Hills area, approximately 10 miles from the nearest herd management area (HMA), due to declining water sources on public lands.
Details of Gather:
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Elko District, Wells Field Office, will begin a wild horse water bait trap gather to remove approximately 60 wild horses in the Wood Hills area that are outside the HMA and residing in largely private lands. The wild horses in the Wood Hills area have been determined to be excess and are also residing largely on private lands outside of the HMA boundary. The nearest HMA is the Spruce-Pequop HMA located approximately 10 miles. This proposed water and bait trap gather would attempt to remove all the excess wild horses from the Wood Hills area due to the declining critical water source on public lands and gathering the excess wild horses and removing them from the area will prevent further resource degradation and allow the range to recover from wild horse impacts.
The contractor for this gather is Sampson Livestock.
Public Observation:
Due to the sensitive nature of the bait-trap gather method, no public observation was offered so as not to disturb gather operations.
Adoption Information:
Excess wild horses removed from the range will be transported to the Palomino Valley Center, NV WH&B facilities to be prepared for the BLM wild horse adoption program or for long-term pastures.
Background:
The wild horses in the Wood Hills area have been determined to be excess and are also residing largely on private lands outside of the HMA boundary. The nearest HMA is the Spruce-Pequop HMA located approximately 10 miles. This proposed water and bait trap gather would attempt to remove all the excess wild horses from the Wood Hills area due to the declining critical water source on public lands and gathering the excess wild horses and removing them from the area will prevent further resource degradation and allow the range to recover from wild horse impacts.
Wood Hills non HMA population is estimated at 60 horses (landowner observed 51 on private lands on a flight on August 4, 2016).
Gather Reports
Sunday, September 4
Summary: Gathered 15 horses (3 studs, 7 mares, 3 foals) with average Henneke Body Condition Score of 3-4.
Animals gathered: 15 (3 studs, 7 mares, 3 foals)
Animals shipped: 0
Total deaths today: 0
Acute:
Chronic/Pre-existing:
Monday, September 5
Summary: Gathered 9 horses (2 studs, 5 mares, 2 foals) with average Henneke Body Condition Score of 3-4.
Animals gathered: 9 (2 studs, 5 mares, 2 foals)
Animals shipped: 0
Total deaths today: 1
Acute: 1*
Chronic/Pre-existing: 0
* Ten (10+) year old grey mare died due to acute trauma (broken neck)
Tuesday, September 6
Summary: Gathered 6 horses (2 studs, 2 mares, 2 foals) with average Henneke Body Condition Score of 2.5 to 4.0.
Animals gathered: 6 (2 studs, 2 mares, 2 foals)
Animals shipped: 16 to Palomino Valley Center (PVC)
Total deaths today: 0
Acute: 0
Chronic/Pre-existing: 0
Wednesday, September 7
Summary: Gathered 25 horses with average Henneke Body Condition Score of 3.0 to 4.0.
Animals gathered: 25 (5 studs, 12 mares, 5 foals, 2 geldings, 1 henny). The two geldings and one henny gathered appears to be estray animals. The NV brand inspector will verify tomorrow and possibly take possession of these animals.
Animals shipped: 0
Total deaths today: 0
Acute: 0
Chronic/Pre-existing: 0
Thursday, September 8
Summary: No horses gathered today.
Animals gathered: 0
Animals shipped: 30 horses to PVC
Total deaths today: 0
Acute: 0
Chronic/Pre-existing: 0
Friday, September 9
Summary: No horses gathered today. The NV State Brand Inspector accepted possession of privately owned horses consisting of 3 geldings and one mare today. All horses have been shipped to short term holding PVC. No other horses have been observed in proximity of the trap for several days. Gather operations will be discontinued as of today.
Animals gathered: 0
Animals shipped: 5 horses to PVC
Total deaths today: 0
Acute: 0
Chronic/Pre-existing: 0
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A death labeled as "acute" is when an animal dies or is euthanized due to acute injuries or medical conditions brought about by the gather and removal process including those that occur during capture, sorting and holding at the gather site. This term will include animals that die for known or unknown reasons thought to be related to gather activities.
A death labeled as "chronic/pre-existing" is when an animal dies or is euthanized for reasons related to chronic or pre-existing conditions such as body condition, lameness, serious physical defects, etc. This term will include animals that are euthanized for conditions not brought about by the gather activity.
Veterinary Reports
There are no veterinarian reports to display at this time.