Plan for Wild Horses Sparks Controversy

(The Wall Street Journal) - Federal wildlife managers are fighting in court to take the unprecedented step of castrating 200 wild stallions in Nevada, in an effort to control surging populations of wild horses across the West.

Animal rights activists oppose the plan, which they contend would strip the wild stallions of their fighting spirit and change herd dynamics.

A coalition of horse advocates last month filed suit to block the US Bureau of Land Management from castrating the stallions, also known as gelding. In response, the agency agreed to postpone the castration until a federal court in Washington, D.C., can hear arguments later this year.

Federal scientists contend they have no choice but to try dramatic steps such as castration because the wild horse population is out of control -- and costing taxpayers tens of millions of dollars a year. Mustangs have few natural predators, and herds can double in size every four years. "We're on an unsustainable path," said Tom Gorey, a spokesman for the Bureau of Land Management.

Wild horses are not native to America; they are descended from domesticated horses brought over by early European explorers. Still, federal law protects mustangs as "living symbols of the historic and pioneer spirit of the West."

Wild horse advocates say that castrating stallions will change that. "Gelding destroys what these animals are," said Neda DeMayo, who runs a wild horse sanctuary in California.

Gelding stallions changes their hormonal balance and will likely leave them unable to perform typical behaviors, such as corralling a harem of mares into a close-knit herd and fighting off challenges from other males, said Suzanne Roy, director of the American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign, one of the advocacy groups that sued to block the castrations. "You're changing their social structures," Roy said.

The wild horses roam across millions of acres of federal land in states including Wyoming, Utah, Oregon and California.

Federal scientists say the portions of range designated as wild horse and burro habitat can sustain just 26,600 animals. The population now exceeds 38,000, including about 5,500 burros. Officials say that is causing ecological damage, as herds trample streams and strip vegetation, destroying habitat needed by other animals, such as the sage grouse.

For decades, the Bureau of Land Management has conducted periodic roundups to thin herds by putting some of the horses up for adoption. Federal law authorizes euthanizing the captured horses, but public opinion runs strongly against that option.

Read more: The Wall Street Journal