The BLM’s Internal “Investigation”: The Fox Guarding the Henhouse

After the many horrific photos and videos of the Antelope HMA wild horse gather being conducted by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) contractor, Sun J, the BLM Review Team appointed to do an internal investigation (AKA cover-up) found “no violation by wild horse gather contractor of existing BLM policy and procedures” and Director Bob Abbey called for a “NEW NORMAL” for doing business. 

1)    The helicopter pilot for Sun J Livestock (owned by John and Jody Holmes of Vernal, Utah) is Josh Hellyer of Sky Aviation (Worland, Wyoming).  Sky Aviation does aerial crop spraying and fish planting (the helicopter lifts a container of water containing fish and empties the contents over a lake). 

2)    The BLM’s report states: “The gather contract solicitation requires that all proposals demonstrate a minimum of 1,500 hours of flying experience in similar projects for the proposed primary and secondary helicopter pilots.”   Did Sky Aviation’s helicopter pilot Josh Hellyer have 1,500 hours of flying experience on similar projects?  Does hauling equipment or containers of water or aerial crop spraying seem even remotely similar to rounding up wild horses? 

3)    What prior BLM experience did Josh Hellyer have other than hauling equipment in June, 2010?

4)    At the Warm Springs wild horse gather in Oregon (where Blue Moon died), which was also run by Sun J, Laura Leigh was told that the helicopter pilot, Josh, was just learning.  See how the helicopter and Sun J operated:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pM_V4TIGrrA&feature=player_embedded

5)    The BLM Investigative Report concludes: “Allegations that the helicopter is dangerously close to the horses or trap are inaccurate or exaggerated.”   (In the following photo, it sure looks like the helicopter is close to the trap.  It also looks like the rotor blades are close to hitting the ground.)

6)    “There is no indication that the helicopter or crew was acting in a cruel or inhumane manner.” – BLM

 

7)    “There is no indication the helicopter was flying dangerously low, too close to the horses, or in an unsafe manner.” – BLM investigation report

8)    The BLM Investigation Report states that the helicopter “kept a safe distance” from the wild horses. 

 

Photographs by Laura Leigh

9)    3 out of 8 pages of the BLM’s investigation report focus on ONLY one incident, the mare that fell on Jan. 27, 2011.  This seems like the old “narrow the scope of the investigation” ploy.  The report called the fact that the mare fell down “an unfortunate accident.”  (Like she didn’t have a loud, 1500 lb. helicopter bearing down on her.)  (In this link, the mare falls at 2:10 and the helicopter flies close to her at 3:14 and 3:40)

10)           The BLM’s report states (regarding the Jan. 31 photos shown on  8 above): “BLM was unable to acquire images from the owner to allow for review and evaluation.”  This statement is untrue.  For one thing, the BLM could’ve easily seen the images on the internet and also here:

 Laura Leigh, who took the photographs, met with BLM Schell Field Manager, Mary D’Aversa, and Ely District Public Affairs specialist, Chris Hanefeld, and offered to send copies of her photographs/videos DIRECTLY to the people doing the investigation.  D’Aversa and Hanefeld wouldn’t identify who was doing the investigation, only that the investigators were “higher up” and from Washington D.C.  On Feb. 1, Maureen VanDerStad of www.grassrootshorse.com called Chris Hanefeld and informed him that the pictures taken on Jan. 31, 2011, were on Laura Leigh’s blog.  Hanefeld told her that he didn’t have time to read blogs. 

11)           Laura Leigh took photos on Jan. 31,  but was not at the gather on Jan. 27, when the mare fell.  However, BLM Spokesman Tom Gorey didn’t get his facts straight, and stated:  “BLM believes the photos were taken the same day of the video but from a different angle.”  This was not true. 

12)           The BLM investigative report does not give the name of the BLM’s COTRs (Contracting Officer’s Technical Representatives).  Nor does the report give the names of the members of the “public” the BLM team questioned.  Since this investigation goes back to Oct. 2010, it includes the Warm Springs, Oregon gather, and most of the “public” who were able to get on the very limited attendance list were BLM “friends” who were invitedby the BLM.  

BLM Director Bob Abbey’s “new normal” is the same as the “old normal”:  The BLM’s continued assault on the Wild Free-Roaming Horse and Burro Act of 1971.

Three of the four members of the BLM’s “review team” who did this “investigation” should be investigated themselves, in a Congressional investigation. 

Lili Thomas, Gus (Victor) Warr and Al Kane, USDA’s AHPHIS veterinarian, were all part of a BLM “team,” whose conference calls and Alternate Management Options were obtained by the Freedom of Information Act by The Conquistador Program, a non-profit equine welfare organization in Phoenix, AZ.   In these conference calls, they discussed using taxpayer money to pay for psychological counseling for BLM employees who would be euthanizing healthy horses.  They discussed experimenting on our wild horses with unapproved drugs and using our horses for research.  Also, in these conference calls:

• Al Kane, a USDA APHIS veterinarian, would be sending info on SpayVac and GonaCon.  It’s noted that SpayVac is “not commercially available; barely available as a research project; Indications it may be permanent in horses;  It is unclear whether we can get it in the country.  Alan Shepard will be working on this with Al Kane.
• SpayVac has not been approved by the EPA or FDA for investigational use.
• A single vaccination of SpayVac…could be permanent…Based on the Nevada estray horse trials…
• The use of PZP under an investigational exemption…the products are technically challenging to mix and administer and their safety has not been confirmed by the FDA or EPA.
• If large numbers of animals become eligible for euthanasia at one time or at one location…euthanasia could be performed on or off-site.
• Under this option, any facility could become a focal point for public, media or Congressional attention.  Increased levels of security would be needed at all locations, or the activity may need to be moved off-site to a more appropriate and secure facility.  Increased support from public relations and management staff would also be needed to insulate those doing the actual work from public, media and Congressional scrutiny/criticism. 
• How many could be euthanized during a gather without having NEPA?
• If proven to be permanent, SpayVac could be used to create non-reproducing herds of mares.
• Adjusting sex ratios of herds:  “Does it affect behavior and do we care?…

There are many reasons there should be a Congressional Investigation of the BLM’s Wild Horse and Burro Program.  Some go back to the 1990s.  The PEER White Paper “Horses To Slaughter” (April, 1997) stated: “the BLM has tolerated and in some instances facilitated the routine and illegal trafficking of wild horses to slaughter…

This included “black booking” or phony double branding of horses so that duplicate branded horses could disappear without a paper trail.  The agency obstructed efforts by its own law enforcement officers to expose commercial theft of wild horses, fraudulent adoption schemes and fictitious ‘sanctuary’ herds, not only to avoid embarrassment, but also to maintain the flow of horses off the range.”

An investigation backed by former BLM Director Jim Baca had “been accepted for prosecution by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Western District of Texas by the time he had left office.  This investigation, by BLM law enforcement agents from New Mexico, centered around the direct participation of BLM employees and contractors selling wild horses for slaughter with the knowledge and approval of BLM managers. Their scheme involved the use of satellite ranches and horse sanctuaries to hide the horses for profit operation.

Troubling aspects of this investigation were the apparent obstruction and witness tampering by BLM managers.  In some instances, BLM officials warned suspects of impending search warrants and  revealed the identity of undercover investigators.

After Baca left office, the Department of Interior began a campaign to shut down the U.S. Attorney’s investigation, even though a grand jury had already been convened to hear evidence in the case.  The U.S. Attorney was pressured into limiting the scope of the investigation to the actions of low level BLM employees.

After the investigation was limited, the BLM reassigned investigators working on the case and began a campaign to drive the original investigators out of the agency.  When agency lawyers blocked the execution of subpoenas, it struck the death blow to the grand jury probe.  The grand jury was cut off from getting the evidence it needed to continue.

Lawyers from the Department of Justice urged that the case be dropped because the tolerance within BLM for the horse to slaughter trade was so widespread that it would be unfair to single out any one person for prosecution.  The Assistant U.S. Attorney objected, but the recommendations of the Justice Department lawyers were accepted and the grand jury was dismissed.”

Will there ever be any justice for our wild horses?  Will there be any justice before they become extinct?

To watch the current wild horse gathers, go to www.grassrootshorse.com or the blog forgrassrootshorse.com at http://blog.grassrootshorse.com/

Sources:

www.conquistadorprogram.com  (Implementation Team Conference Calls and Alternative Management Options documents are available on this website)

An excellent analysis of the documents above, titled “BLM’s Final Solution for the Wild Horses and Burros” was done by the Animal Law Coalition 

 Sky Aviation’s helicopter (N34CM) at Sun J’s Antelope wild horse gather.

http://www.airport-data.com/aircraft/N34CM.htm

Fish Planting by Sky Aviation:  http://skyaviation.us/fish_planting_5.html

Sky Aviation’s services:  http://skyaviation.us/services_2.html

Sky Aviation does aerial crop spraying: 

Josh Hellyer listed as a Sky Aviation pilot

Josh Hellyer hauled equipment for the BLM in June, 2010 at Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range: 

Page 14:  http://www.docstoc.com/docs/61498386/No-Contract-Cell-Service-Grand-Junction

http://www.manta.com/c/mtg5lts/sun-j-livestock

http://rtfitch.wordpress.com/tag/laura-leigh/

http://articles.latimes.com/1997-03-23/news/mn-41176_1_wild-horses

BLM colluding and conspiring agianst wild horses and you

BLM’s press release regarding their investigation:

Full copy of the BLM’s Investigative Report:

http://www.peer.org/pubs/whitepapers/1997_horses_to_slaughter.pdf

Inconsistent Logic

The anti-Mustang community (and yes, I'm finding that there really is a community of these people), is rather inconsistent in their beliefs towards wildlife, and all animals in general. Anti-Mustang people generally like to pick on popular animals simply because they're popular. Basically, if an animal is well-loved by the general public (such as wolves or horses), anti-Mustang people feel they have to hate it. It's not logical, but nonetheless it's how they act. As the treasurer of the Cloud Foundation once told me: "many of these people are just angry at the world."



INCONSISTENT LOGIC:

Take the gray wolf, for example. Wolves are loved in pop culture, and there is a small group of people known as "wolfaboos" who believe wolves are more important than humans, that wolves never cause problems, etc., and on the far other end of the wolf spectrum, there are the anti-wolf (and generally also anti-Mustang) people who want to hunt wolves for sport. When the issue of whether or not wolves should be protected is brought up, the latter say that it doesn't matter if wolves die off due to human involvement. Take this quote that was taken from an anti-wolf (and also anti-Mustang) individual's blog post:

Statement #10: Wolves were here before humans, they have more of a right to be here than us.
Truth:  A lot of stuff was here before us, does that mean we should all go kill ourselves because of it? Million of species have gone extinct to reach the biological diversity that we have now. Nature didn't stop and say "Stegosaurus was here first, they have more of a right to be here!" No, the dinosaurs died long before man arrived. The weak die, the strong survive.

Okay, the original statement about wolves having more right to the land is a little iffy, I'll admit. What exactly does the person mean? Do they want humans killed off? Seeing as the anti-wolf/anti-Mustang person didn't tell us if it was the original statement or just her personal interpretation of it, we'll never know. However, the original statement is actually beside the point. Let's look at the girl's response.

The anti-wolf/anti-Mustang girl says that it doesn't matter if animals (including native animals such as the gray wolf) go extinct due to human involvement. Gray wolves are not an endangered species, but as you can clearly see from what she wrote, it doesn't matter to her if they were an endangered species. This is what Darwinism boils down to: the weak die, the strong survive. If one species is stronger than another (no matter if it is native to North America or not), she believes that the stronger species has more of a right to survive than the weaker one.

The funny thing is, though, that this girl complains about how successful wild horses are. She calls them "invasive," "useless," etc. She complains about how fast they can reproduce, how much area they can cover, etc. In essence, she openly admits that they are an extremely strong species. Here are some quotes taken from an anti-Mustang stamp of hers:

Horses are out there overgrazing 24/7 all year every year. The feral horses have been well documented for overgrazing as well as riparian destruction in their areas because their population goes unchecked -- the population increases 20% every year and doubles every 4 years.

The small reptiles and mammals that depend on burrows and brush cover to survive and breed are less abundant in horse-occupied sites (except for deer mice, a species known to thrive in disturbed landscapes). Another study found that bighorn sheep, a native ungulate whose populations have been in decline, avoid water sources when horses are using them. In fact, a study found 76% reduction in the number of groups of bighorn sheep using a typically preferred water source when horses were present. Pronghorn will not drink if they are forced to come within 3 meters of feral horses at the water source.

Here she is describing how wild horses have overpopulated some of their HMAs (Herd Management Areas), which is true, but she's erroneously implying that it is the case in ALL HMAs. It's not. Most HMAs are relatively healthy, especially the ones where fertility controls such as PZP are used. Fertility control is not ass effective in all HMAs as it is in some, but it is still much more effective than removals. She also implies that horses are causing mass extinction of small reptiles and mammals (although she neglects to mention that those same small reptiles and mammals are less abundant in deer, elk, bison, and moose-occupied sites as well as horse-occupied sites), and she implies that horses are causing the extinction of bighorn sheep and pronghorn. Okay, first of all, bighorn sheep and pronghorn are not threatened in the least bit. They're listed as "least concern: population stable." Horses aren't causing them any trouble. The sierra bighorn (Ovis canadensis sierrae), which is a subspecies of the bighorn sheep species (Ovis canadensis), is endangered, but due to hunting and habitat loss, not from waiting a few minutes at a watering hole. Unlike cattle, which will stand in a watering hole all day long, wild horses are constantly on the move. They generally do not stay in an open, vulnerable place like a watering hole for longer than half an hour, if that. Most leave after a five-minute drink. And (shockers) horses will also wait for other large herbivores to finish drinking as well. 

In the past, both bighorn sheep and pronghorn were threatened, both due to hunting and human encroachment. Bighorn sheep were victims of hunting, mostly, whereas pronghorn were prevented from reaching their migration routes because of (you guessed it) cattle. Cattle ranches erect barbed wire fences around their land, and pronghorn couldn't get through. But thanks to kindly ranchers making "wildlife-friendly" fences that have a smooth wire along the bottom rather than a barbed one, pronghorn can now slip under and get where they need to go. Things aren't perfect for either of these species, but they're much better off than they were a few years ago, and wild horses had nothing to do with the problems or the solutions.

So it's established that this girl thinks horses are stronger than other species. So does she follow her own logic that stronger species should survive? Let's find out. In a comment on one of her anti-Mustang blogs (where she erroneously claims to be in the middle of the Mustang Spectrum), this is what she said:

The BLM and Forest Service consider taking care of horses a waste of time and resources, and they have very little money and manpower to do what they need to do as it stands. This is not something that is a priority for them as far as good time-management. If I were them, I would be shooting horses - and that's what they should be doing. Unfortunately, the public backlash would be unreal. It is possible that the shooting is going on and we just don't know about it.

I did not edit this comment in any way other than to add the emphasis. It is blatantly obvious how she believes Mustangs should be managed: "Shoot 'em! Shoot 'em all!" The idea of managing Mustangs in any other way than hunting is unthinkable to her. When horses becomes the least bit of a problem, she goes straight for her gun. How is that the middle of the Mustang Spectrum..?

But wait, she thinks horses are strong, doesn't she? She said herself that they are capable of outgrazing, outbreeding, and out...drinking(?) other animals. So how come she wants them dead? Because she personally doesn't like them. It's as simple as that. To anti-Mustang people, their own rules only apply when it suits them.

In essence, the weak die, the strong survive... unless you're a Mustang. Then you should just be shot.




More anti-Mustang "logic"...

Mustangs do have natural predators: the-cynical-unicorn.deviantart…
Is the BLM insane?: the-cynical-unicorn.deviantart…
A taste of anti-Mustang logic: the-cynical-unicorn.deviantart…

BLM wants to remove ALL mustangs from 3 HMAs

Comments to the BLM are due by April 22, 2016!

The Bureau of Land Management's (BLM's) illegal Wyoming wild horse wipeout continues. The agency is now accepting public comments for another roundup that they plan for Wyoming Checkerboard lands within and outside of the Great Divide Basin, Salt Wells Creek, and Adobe Town Herd Management Areas (HMAs). The BLM is currently proposing to permanently remove ALL free-roaming Mustangs from those three HMAs (Herd Management Areas.)

The BLM's proposal is a response to the Rock Springs Grazing Association to remove horses from private lands. The BLM is using the RSGA's request as an excuse to remove horses from all lands, both public and private (some of my more attentive readers will recognize this as a frequent BLM tactic: ranchers ask for help with a problem herd, and BLM uses that request as an excuse to perform massive roundups on herds miles away.) The new proposed removal comes less than two years after the massive Wyoming Checkerboard roundup, in which 1,263 federally protected wild horses were captured and permanently removed from over 2.4 million acres of public and private lands (71% of which is public) in the southern part of the state. At least 100 horses were killed during the roundup itself or in the months following their capture in the BLM’s holding pens.

The BLM Checkerboard roundups have set a very dangerous legal precedent that we continue to challenge in federal court. If allowed to stand, the agency's actions put the fate of wild horses living on public lands throughout the West in the hands of private landowners (ranchers) who want them all removed from our public lands. According to the Wild Horse and Burro Act of 1971, public lands are designated to be used for both wildlife (which includes free-roaming horses and burros) and cattle grazing. It is illegal to permanently remove wild horses from public lands, unless the horses are literally starving, which these Wyoming Mustangs are not.

Please weigh in today against yet another illegal BLM roundup of federally protected wild horses living on Wyoming public lands! A Herd Management Area is not a Herd Management Area anymore if it has no herds to manage. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize that.

Comments to the BLM are due by April 22, 2016!

Symptoms of Insanity

Anyone who knows anything about Mustangs or the issues surrounding them knows that the BLM's roundups don't work. Even the BLM complains about how ineffective they are. So the BLM's genius solution is to...do more roundups. Logic? I see none.

Do Mustangs Have Natural Predators?

Anti-Mustang Logic: Natural Predators

There is a common misconception that wild Mustangs have no natural predators. This couldn't be farther from the truth. Mustangs' predators include, but are not limited to, cougars (mountain lions), various species of bears (grizzlies, black bears), wolves, coyotes, etc. Unfortunately, all these predators are hunted by humans and many, such as bears and wolves, have been displaced by human development, thus they're prevented from doing their job efficiently.

Let's look at each major North American wild horse predator in depth:

Wolves

Wolves have the potential to be Mustangs' chief predator. In Canada, Mustangs are frequently preyed on by wolves. They are pack hunters, and while they are individually too small to bring down anything other than a foal or an old sick adult, a pack of them can easily bring down a healthy adult, even if a few pack members are injured or killed in the process. They also naturally roam in the same areas that Mustangs do: Northwest plains and sometimes mountainous regions. Unfortunately, wolves in the U.S. have had their population and habitat dramatically reduced due to human development. Thus, wolf territories today generally do not overlap with wild horse territories, even though they used to. This is what the National Academy of Sciences has to say about wolves and wild horses:

    Wolves are quite capable of preying on equids. In southern Europe, equids constituted 6.2 percent of wolf diets (range, 0-24 percent) (Meriggi and Lovari, 1996). In Abruzzo National Park, Italy, horses constituted 70 percent of wolf diets; however, unguarded horses are commonly hobbled in that area to prevent long-range movements (Patalano and Lovari, 1993, cited in Meriggi and Lovari, 1996). In northwestern Spain, a population of free-ranging ponies is heavily preyed on by wolves (Lagos and Barcena, 2012). Foal survival rate was very low (0.41), and 76 percent of foal carcasses found were killed by wolves. Van Duyne et al. (2009) reported that wild Przewalski’s horse foals were killed by wolves in Hustai National Park, Mongolia, and cautioned that predation could influence translocation efforts. However, those horses are sufficiently vigilant to survive and reproduce, so perhaps they have not lost essential skills (King and Gurnell, 2012). Wolves in a multiprey system have been reported to prey on feral horses in Alberta, Canada. Webb (2009) reported that one of 36 kills by wolves included a feral horse. Webb (2009) located 192 ungulates that had been killed by wolves in 11 packs from 2003 to 2006. Some 7 percent were feral horses, and they made up 12 percent of the total biomass consumed (0.01 ± 0.02 feral horse/pack per day). Despite evidence that wolves prey on equids elsewhere, the committee was unable to identify any examples of wolf predation on free-ranging equids in the United States.

This is basically the same thing that I've said. Wolves are capable of hunting horses, even adult horses, but in the U.S., they do not live in many of their native habitats. Wild horses still live in those habitats, but wolves no longer do, thanks to human involvement. In essence, wild horses are having the same exact problem that deer are having. Whitetail deer are overpopulating because their natural predator, the wolf, has been displaced by humans. The gray wolf in North America is not endangered, but it can't do its job effectively.

Cougars / Pumas / Mountain Lions

Cougars alone kill about half of Mustang foals born every year and are currently Mustangs' chief natural predator in the U.S., although wolves would be more effective if they were allowed to do so. The reason cougars are not as effective as wolves is because cougar and wild horse habitats to not generally overlap. Cougars are called mountain lions for a reason: they live in the mountains (wow, didn't see that one coming!). Mustangs usually live on the plains and in desert areas. Some HMAs (Herd Management Areas) are in mountainous regions, and in those places, cougars do a pretty good job of keeping the wild horse population in check. Cougars enjoy horsemeat so much that they will often focus on hunting mainly horses to the near exclusion of other prey animals. Unfortunately, because cougars usually don't live on the open plains or in the desert, those Mustangs are rarely preyed on by cougars. The most common desert predator that poses any sort of threat to wild horses is the coyote, which I will cover later. Wolves live and hunt in open plains, but they've been pushed out of Mustang plains by human development (as I mentioned earlier). This is what the National Academy of Sciences has to say about cougars and wild horses:

    Most predation on free-ranging equids in North America has been attributed to mountain lions. That has been reported by Robinette et al. (1959) and Ashman et al. (1983). Berger (1983c) cited an unpublished report of 21 cases of mountain lion predation on free-ranging horses in the Great Basin; those deaths spanned more than 20 years and had negligible effects on population growth. Feral (but not free-ranging) horses constituted 11 percent of mountain lion diets in Alberta (Knopff and Boyce, 2009). Horses constituted 10-13 percent of adult male lion diets, but female lion diets were almost devoid of horses (Knopff et al., 2010). Overall, mountain lion predation on free-ranging equids in North America is, with few exceptions, considered uncommon (Berger, 1986).
    One of the exceptions is the free-ranging horse population on the central California-Nevada border. Turner et al. (1992) examined foal survival rates in the area (the Montgomery Pass Wild Horse Territory managed by the U.S. Forest Service) because there was a ban on mountain lion hunting in California and low hunting pressure in Nevada that led to a high density of mountain lions. The study was conducted from May 1986 to July 1991 by examining the horse and mountain lion populations and documenting deaths of horses. The average annual cohort of foals over the 5 years was 32. The annual survival rates were calculated for foals (0.27), yearlings (0.95), and adults (0.96). From 1987 to 1990, 48 foals were lost; 58 percent were located as carcasses and 82 percent of those were killed by mountain lions. The authors concluded that mountain lion predation had a substantial effect on the demography of that free-ranging horse population. The study was continued, and Turner and Morrison (2001) used 11 years of data (1987-1997) to examine again the influence of mountain lions on the horse population in Montgomery Pass Wild Horse Territory. Their results supported the earlier work of Turner et al. (1992): mountain lions were responsible for the deaths of 45 percent of the foals that were born. Mountain lion predation was also hypothesized as a major factor in limiting horse population growth in an area of southern Nevada where they use high-elevation forested habitats in summer (Greger and Romney, 1999). Those habitats are excellent for mountain lions because of their broken topography.
   
By and large, research that has addressed the question of predation on free-ranging equids in North America has been limited to anecdotal observations and a few published papers, but at the time of the committee’s review, studies at the University of Nevada, Reno, that should provide more quantitative data were under way. The work in several mountain ranges of western Nevada was examining predation by mountain lions in multi prey systems in which free-ranging horses had various densities. Diet data were being obtained by using information from GPS-collared mountain lions to investigate predation events; more than 700 predation events had been investigated as of June 2012. Ten of 13 collared mountain lions that had access to free-ranging horses regularly consumed horses as prey. Horses were documented to have been consumed as prey by collared mountain lions in eight mountain ranges throughout the study area in western Nevada (Virginia, Pah Rah, Fox, Lake, Wassuk, and Excelsior ranges and Virginia and Smoke Creek Mountains). Preliminary data suggest that in that study area, where free-ranging horses are available as prey, more than 50 percent of the diet of collared mountain lions is made up of horses when diet data on individual mountain lions are pooled. Preliminary results suggest that mountain lions in that multiprey system are generalists at the population level but that some diet specialization occurs at the individual level: some lions select for deer where horses are more abundant, and some select for horses to the near exclusion of other prey items where mule deer, bighorn sheep, and domestic animals are present. There is also some evidence that the magnitude of predation on horses by mountain lions may be related to the density of free-ranging horses, greater predation on horses occurring where densities of horses are higher (Andreasen, 2012).
    The potential for mountain lions to affect the sizes of populations of free-ranging horses in North America is limited by the fact that most HMAs are in areas that have few mountain lions. The ranges of mountain lions tend to be concentrated in forested areas and at higher elevations (Kertson et al., 2011) and in areas that have mountainous or otherwise broken topography with limited viewsheds. In contrast, many horse populations favor habitats that have more extensive viewsheds. Mountain lions are ambush predators and require habitats that provide opportunities for stalking or finding prey without being seen. Other predators, such as wolves, are more cursorial—capable of pursuing prey across open habitats.
    That a large predator, when abundant, can substantially influence the dynamics of free-ranging horses is not surprising inasmuch as black bears (Zager and Beecham, 2006), mountain lions (Wehausen, 1996), and other predators (Ballard et al., 2001; Boertje et al., 2010) have exerted strong influences on ungulate populations. However, the influence of predation on horses in the western United States is considerably limited by a lack of habitat overlap both with mountain lions and with wolves. Another constraint is that among free-ranging horse populations, foals are the usual prey, and predation on adults has rarely been documented until the recent studies in Nevada. Population size is not affected as much by foal survival as it is by adult survival (Eberhardt et al., 1982), and foal survival is strongly affected by other variables (such as weather).

Bears

Bears are more than capable of killing an adult horse...if they can catch it. A single bear has a good chance of bringing down even a healthy horse, but the problem here is that horses are generally too fast for bears to catch. Again, wolves are the best candidate, seeing as they can chase a horse(s) and run it down. However, if a bear is lucky enough to catch a wild horse unawares, the bear has a very good chance of having a meal.

Coyotes

Coyotes typically prey on young or very sick horses. They share territory with Mustangs. Unfortunately, they aren't big enough to take on a healthy adult, unless they hunt in a very, very large pack, which isn't likely. Coyotes are not a main natural predator of Mustangs, although a pack of them could kill a foal or a very weak adult.

More information in the links below! This information is so basic that most of what I could find were websites aimed at tiny school children. Don't take it personally. It just goes to show how silly anti-Mustang people are that they actually need to be reminded of this stuff.
www.nap.edu/read/13511/chapter…

www.eduscapes.com/nature/musta…

www.whateats.com/what-eats-a-h…

wonderopolis.org/wonder/are-ho…

Anti-Mustang Logic 01

I actually had this conversation with someone the other day. When asked how they would manage Mustangs, they said they wanted to eradicate them, and then turned around and said I was twisting their words and that everything was just hypothetical. Uh-huh. Sure.

This is what happens when anti-Mustang folks try to use logic.

BLM Wants to Decimate Last Viable Herd of Burros

BLM stands for Bureau of Land Management.

Protect Burros in their Black Mountain Stronghold (click here to view video) 

The majority of wild burros in the US live in the deserts and mountains of Arizona. Quiet and deliberate, they are beautifully adapted to their surroundings and are some of the largest wild animals to be found in their desert home. Unlike wild horses that run from intruders, burros tend to size up a situation. It gave us an opportunity to quietly observe them.
 
Although protected by the Wild Horse and Burro Act, they are managed at token levels, far less than the herd sizes needed to guarantee their existence into the next century. The recent National Academies of Science Report included cautionary words "multiple populations (of burros) totaling thousands, rather than hundreds, of individuals will probably be necessary for long-term viability of species." Genetic analysis of wild burro herds finds diversity levels lower than their endangered cousins in Africa!
    

Only one herd comes remotely close to the minimum required for long term survival and that is the one targeted for a devastating removal, unless we can convince BLM to reconsider. Over 1,000 burros call the Black Mountain Herd Management Area home. Scattered over the landscape, these hardy burro survivors can be difficult to spot and are wary of onlookers. 75 miles long and 13 miles wide in northwestern Arizona, the Black Mountain area is 1.1 million acres of volcanic mountains and sandy draws east of the Colorado River. It is nearly as large as the state of Delaware.
     

Like all burros, they thrive on very little, and eat roughage that is indigestible to their cloven-hoofed counterparts. Burros are accused of competing with other animals. Yet, new scientific revelations in Arizona show vital ways in which they benefit other wildlife. Trail cam footage shot in August 2015 reveals burros digging for water.  With their solid hooves they are better equipped to dig than cloven-hoofed animals like Javalena, mule deer, and Desert Bighorn Sheep. Even coyotes and domestic livestock (also cloven-hoofed) benefit from the well-digging wild burros. Burros are often blamed for destruction of fragile desert habitats when the damage is clearly done by humans. The tracks you see below are not burro paths but ATV and motorcycle trails sliced into the desert dunes.
     

Ignoring the real culprits of desert destruction, BLM proposes to remove nearly 3/4's of the burros in Black Mountain, leaving a non-viable remnant. Let’s fight back for the burros. The last wild horse or burro range where management is primarily for wild horses and burros was designated 25 years ago. It’s time for the burros of Arizona to have a range designated for them and the other wildlife of the Black Mountains. Without protections, a roundup could destroy this last stronghold of the burros.   

Let Arizona’s Congressional Delegation know you want a range for these icons of the desert in their State! Ask them to do the right thing today for the Burros of the Black Mountains. Stop the roundup. Create an Arizona Burro Range.

Click here for a list of the Arizona’s Senators and Congressional Representatives.  Respectfully ask them to request the creation of the Black Mountain Wild Burro Range. Stop the roundup!

Are Mustangs Exotic, Native, or Neither?

Photo credit: http://vancouverscape.com/yukon-beringia-interpretive-centre/

Before I begin, there are a few things you must understand. First, the modern horse Equus caballos is one of several species under the genus Equus. Equus covers horses, asses (donkeys), and zebras. All three are separate species. Of horses, there are two surviving subspecies: Equus caballos and Equus ferus. The two subspecies are genetically and visibly different from each other, although they can interbreed and produce fertile offspring. Most scientists (and myself) agree that Equus caballos was created through domestication. However, there is also an extinct third subspecies of horse: Equus lambei. Preserved remains of Equus lambei have been discovered and there is no visible difference between it and Equus caballos. Genetic testing has revealed that this horse - which is estimated to have gone extinct 10,000 - 6,000 years ago - is the most recent ancestor of our modern Equus caballos. Where did Equus lambei originate? North America.

In this journal I will discuss the evidence of pre-Columbian equine presence in North America. I will provide a variety and large number of sources for you to explore. There are two prevailing theories: The first is that single-toed horses (caballoid-type horses) never existed in North America at any point in history. The second theory is that Equus caballos appeared on its own and was present in North America until the point when Christopher Columbus sailed in 1492. As you will see, neither theory is correct.

 “The Horse and Burro as Positively Contributing Returned Natives in North America” by Craig C. Downer: article.sciencepublishinggroup…

 Craig C. Downer. The Horse and Burro as Positively Contributing Returned Natives in North America. American Journal of Life Sciences. Vol. 2, No. 1, 2014, pp. 5-23. doi: 10.11648/j.ajls.20140201.12

Single-toed horses originated in North America and went extinct around the end of the last Ice Age. Theories of the cause of the extinction include drought, disease, or a result of hunting by humans (early Native Americans). As you will see, the modern horse (Equus caballos) is most likely not native to North America, but evidence suggests that it is not an exotic species. Thus, perhaps the most accurate way to describe E. caballos' relation to North America is "familiar."

Summary of above paper: A common view is that the modern horse species (Equus caballos) is not native to North America and only appeared on the scene 500 years ago, but this article describes how caballoid-type horses are most likely native to North America, and were killed off by humans before being later reintroduced by the Spanish about 500 years ago. The article is written from an evolutionary point of view, but describes various fossils of equines that originated in North America. While the “millions of years” is debatable, the fossils are not. The evidence, including fossils, DNA, an actual frozen Equus lambei dating back 10,000 years, pre-Columbian cave paintings of horses, as well as Chinese writings from over 3,000 years ago describing horses resembling modern Appaloosas, indicates that the equine animal family originated in North America and spread outward, perhaps on ice bridges during the Ice Age (after the Flood, according to a Creationist perspective), or perhaps they were brought to other continents by humans. The Yukon Horse, as Equus lambei became known as, was outwardly identical to Equus caballos (and as ancient writing indicate, behaved identically to Equus caballos) was present in North America approximately 10,000 years ago, which indicates that the horse species originated in North America. The article ends by describing various ways that horses benefit the North American ecosystems.

For those who don't know, Equus lambei is an extinct subspecies of horse that is virtually identical to the modern Equus cabllos, and most biologists agree that Equus caballosis a direct descendant of Equus lambei. As such, the only difference between the modern wild horses living in North America and the ones that died out around 7,500 years ago is a minute DNA discrepancy. In the end, fossils of E. caballos have not yet been discovered in North America, but seeing as they are nearly identical to E. lambei, which is native to North America, then modern horses are actually very familiar to the North American landscape. While not a native subspecies of horse, Equus caballos is not exotic, either.

During the mid-1990s, horse remains were discovered by placer miners in the Yukon. They were well preserved in the permafrost and seemed to have died recently, yet proved to be approximately twenty-five thousand years old. Their rufous color, flaxen mane and solid hooves had the aspect of a typical, small and wiry mustang of the West. Based on external morphology, the specimen was identified as a “Yukon horse,” whose Latin name is Equus lambei. Intrigued, paleontologists conducted a genetic analysis of this specimen, which showed it to be one and the same as the modern horse: Equus caballus. Further independent analysis conclusively proved this. With this substantiation came a more widespread recognition of wild horses as returned native species in North America, since E. lambei was seen to be identical to E. caballus.

Here I came upon some fascinating petroglyphs dating from modern times to a few thousand years ago (Bureau of Land Management, Bishop California office, archeologist, pers. comm.). These artful designs had been painstakingly chiseled with hard tools on granite to form hypnotizing spirals, geometrical checkerboards, arrowheads, lances, strange anthrozooic (man-animal) figures, eagles, bighorn sheep with large, curved horns, and then, much to my amazement, a definite horse figure, without apparent rider, bridle, rope or saddle, rendered in simple rectilinear fashion – but with proportions unmistakably those of a horse. Judging from the brownish oxidation on the chiseling, this horse was not a recent addition to the ancient petroglyphs here. Scientific analysis of the patina of some of these petroglyphs has revealed ages up to 3,000 years. By visually comparing patina hues, I estimated this horse could be well over 1,000 years old.

An intriguing line of evidence that horses were present in America over 3,000 years before Columbus's arrival comes from Chinese writings. One manuscript dating from 2,200 B.C. indicates that the Chinese came to North America by sea at very early dates and described several animals occurring in Fu Sang, or the “Land to the East" [which refers to North America, according to modern cartographers]. Their descriptions match certain North American animals, including bighorn sheep and horses resembling the appaloosa.

While there is still debate over where horses originated, this paper certainly raises interesting questions. I'm curious: what did you think after reading it?

Craige C. Downer is a wildlife ecologist who specializes on Perissodactyl mammals: www.coasttocoastam.com/guest/d…, andeantapirfund.com/CraigCDown…, and is clearly qualified to write scientific articles: equinewelfarealliance.org/uplo…, academic.research.microsoft.co…

UPDATE #1: It has been brought to my attention that one of my incessant stalkers on here has been making Ad Hominem claims against Science Publishing Group in an attempt to discredit this article. Aside from the fact that the article was written by Craige C. Downer for the American Journal of Life Sciences (more information above) and not by or for Science Publishing Group, Ad Hominem attacks are a logical fallacy and therefore suggest that this individual is desperate. On top of that, this person's claims against Science Publishing Group (SPG) are baseless. I have looked into SPG myself, and they are merely an outlet for scientists of all fields to publish papers. They have no overarching worldview or agenda, other than to let scientists speak up. There are no scams or viruses on their homepage, as my stalker claims there are: www.sciencepublishinggroup.com… . They answer their phone. They answer their e-mail. Everything you need to contact them is literally at the bottom of their homepage, where one would expect it to be. Their unsubscribe button works. It leads to this page right here: www.sciencepub123.com/unsubscr…. She even went so far as to say that SPG is predatory. Either my stalker is mistaking Science Publishing Group for a different organization, or she is deliberately deceiving her audience. What's perhaps the most obvious, however, is how she claimed that mitochondrial DNA testing is not reliable, even though she has used it many times to make points about how wolves should be eradicated from various parts of North and South America. Convenient how she'll rely on mitochondrial DNA testing when it agrees with her points, but suddenly turns her back on it when it implies that she's wrong. She also mistakenly assumed that the paper was written by Jay F. Kirkpatrick, which implies that she didn't even read it. Even more so, she says my sources are unavailable, even though they are...right here on this page. She finishes off by describing all of the worst-case problems that wild horses have supposedly caused, even though those problems were actually caused cases of extreme mismanagement of wild horses but principally by cattle. (She's under the impression that cattle are not allowed on HMAs, but that's not true; check out the last two questions and answers on this page: www.blm.gov/nv/st/en/prog/wh_b…). While it's undeniable that overpopulated horses cause environmental damage, horses in healthy populations actually benefit the land in many ways, as Craige C. Downer described. They're like any animal: when in unnatural populations, they're damaging, but not when they're in healthy populations.  All of these Ad Hominem attacks, convenient changes of mind, and baseless/nonsensical accusations, all just go to show how far anti-Mustang people will go to justify their hatred and and personal vendettas against mere animals.

UPDATE #2: My stalker has once again used more Ad Hominem attacks and irrelevant information to attempt to explain away Equus lambei's presence in North America. She says the article I linked to is not from a scientific journal. Not only is that Ad Hominem and a logical fallacy, but it's also false. It's from the American Journal of Life Sciences. She conveniently ignores this and focuses on the online publication source, which is irrelevant. She also seems to have difficulty following citations, because the paper's sources are quite easy to find. She is also free to contact Craige C. Downer himself for direct access to his sources (his contact information is at the beginning of his paper.) But I have a feeling she'd rather write rants on DeviantART rather than actually talk to an expert. She continued on to pick fun at cave paintings of animals that resemble horses, saying that they're "obviously" mountain lions (ancient mountain lions must have had really long necks...) What's ironic, though, is how she herself admits that cave painting interpretations are subjective. We both agree that the real evidence lies in the fossils and preserved remains of E. lambei, which she tries to explain away by erroneously comparing E. lambei and E. caballos to dogs and wolves (more about that further on). She also seems to have missed the entire point of the paper I linked to as well as my point: we don't know for sure where Equus caballos (modern horse) originated, but we know that Equus lambei originated in North America, and since DNA testing has revealed that E. caballos is nearly identical to E. lambei, it stands to reason that the two are closely linked. This would mean that caballoid-type horses (single-toed, long-maned, long-tailed horses) were present in North America as late as 7,600 years ago. To deny this is to remain willfully ignorant, as the skeleton and pelt of the animal in question is documented and one specimen is on display in Canadian museums. You can see it with your own eyes. I won't even bother to address her ridiculous claim that the Yukon horse is fabrication. I don't have time for such nonsense. The question is now this: how related is E. lambei to E. caballos? According to mitochondrial DNA testing, they are virtually identical. Unlike dogs and wolves, there is almost no difference genetically or visibly. They are more like Siberian tigers vs. Bengal tigers than dogs vs. wolves (Siberian tigers and Bengal tigers are both subspecies of the Tigris genus, just like how Equus caballos and Equus lambei are both subspecies of the Equus genus.) My stalker attempts to explain this away by claiming that mtDNA testing is unreliable. However, as I mentioned above, she relies on mtDNA testing frequently to make claims about how various species of wolves are not the original native subspecies of various areas of North and South America. If she believes mtDNA testing is reliable when it supports her beliefs, how come it's suddenly not reliable when it contradicts her? This kind of selective logic is extremely unscientific.

In the end, she's once again letting hatred and emotion get in the way of scientific reason. She's making strawmen out of my arguments: I am not saying that Mustangs are a native species or that they should go un-managed. Unlike her, I'm open to the fact that there is debate in the scientific community about the native status of E. caballos to North America. We both agree that the Yukon Horse (E. lambei) is not an E. caballos (Mustang). We  both agree that Mustangs should be managed. Where we disagree is how they should be managed. She believes that single-toed horses are an "exotic" species to North America (therefore ignoring the fossil evidence) and thus should be completely eradicated, even though that would not solve the habitat degradation problem. I believe that single-toed horses existed in North America as recently as 7,600 years ago (seeing as we have fossils of them), and while those horses were not E. caballos, they are the ancestor of E. caballos, and thus modern horses are not as "exotic" as one would think. However, seeing as humans hunt horses' natural predators and use the land for cattle grazing (blaming the environmental damage caused by their cattle on the horses), the horses need to be managed. We can't expect people to go hungry for the sake of animals. Mustangs don't need to be eradicated, but they do need to be managed. In the end, I don't believe Equus caballos is native to North America, there is no denying that it is familiar. It's not a native subspecies to North America and I never claimed that it was, but it is not the exotic animal that this hater makes it out to be.

I will not be responding to any further of her strawman "responses," threats, or immature jabs at my intelligence because A) they're not worth my time, and B) she's a stalker.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

More information about the possibility of equines being familiar to the North American landscape:

www.thecloudfoundation.org/ima… 

I phoned Dr. Gotthardt, and she explained how she had immediately flown north to Dawson City to investigate the land. As she hiked into Last Chance Creek canyon, the stench of rotting flesh greeted her long before she saw the partial body of a horse jutting out of the canyon wall above. Initially she believed the miners had unearthed a contemporary horse. Beyond the smell, it had all the characteristics of a contemporary horse - solid hooves and a brown coat with a flop-over, blondish mane. But, when the carcass was radiocarbon dated, it turned out to be 26,000 years old!

Equus lambei is the link between our contemporary wild horse (currently roaming in remnant herds across 10 western states), and the horses that died out as recently as 7,600 years ago. Both are caballoid-type horses - Equus Caballus, the modern horse. The Yukon Horse confirms that the horses that died out on this continent arevirtually the same as the ones that returned with the Spanish Conquistadors in the early 1500s and eventually escaped to reclaim their freedom.

A growing number of scientists are acknowledging the mustang as a returned native species, not the least of whom is the Curator of the Division of Vertebrate Zoology at the American Museum of Natural History, Ross MacPhee, PhD. He states, "The contemporary wild horse in the United States is recently derived from lines domesticated in Europe and Asia. But those lines themselves go much further back in time, and converge on populations that lived in North America during the latter part of the Pleistocene (2.5M to 10k years ago)." Dr. MacPhee refers to this re-introduction as, biologically speaking, Aa non-event: horses were merely returned to part of their former native range, where they have since prospered because ecologically they never left.

protectmustangs.org/?page_id=5… (Contains links to several papers)

"Scientists know from fossil remains that the horse originated and evolved in North America, and that these small 12 to 13 hand horses or ponys (sic) migrated to Asia across the Bering Strait, then spread throughout Asia and finally reached Europe. The drawings in the French Laseaux caves, dating about 10,000 B.C., are a testimony to their long westward migration. Scientists contend, however, that the aboriginal horse became extinct in North America during what is (known) as the “Pleistocene kill,” in other words, that they disappeared at the same time as the mammoth, the ground sloth, and other Ice Age mammals."  -PRESENTED BY Claire Henderson, Laval University, Quebec, Canada. 2-1-91. IN SUPPORT OF SENATE BILL 2278 (North Dakota)
STATEMENT OF CLAIRE HENDERSON
HISTORY DEPARTMENT
BATIMENT DE KONINCK
LAVAL UNIVERSITY
QUEBEC CITY, QUEBEC CANADA
236 Rve Lavergne Quebec, Quebec, G1K-2k2 Canada
418-647-1032

It’s generally accepted that [the] horse species evolved on the North American continent. The fossil record for equine-like species goes back nearly 4 million years. Modern horses evolved in North America about 1.7 million years ago, according to researchers at Uppsala University, who studied equine DNA. Scientists say North American horses died out between 13,000 and 10,000 years ago, at the end of the Pleistocene Epoch, after the species had spread to Asia, Europe, and Africa.
Horses were reintroduced by the Spanish explorers in the 16th century. Animals that subsequently escaped or were let loose from human captivity are the ancestors of the wild herds that roam public lands today.

The submergence of the Bering land bridge prevented any return migration from Asia [which is why horses did not reappear until the Spanish brought them over.] There’s no proof any horses escaped extinction in the Americas. If horses survived in the New World up to the 15th century, then no one has ever been able to find the physical evidence to prove the theory.

Many scientists once thought horses died out on the continent before the arrival of the ancestors of the American Indians, but archeologists have found equine and human bones together at sites dating back to more than 10,000 years ago. The horse bones had butchering marks, indicating the animals were eaten by people, according to “Horses and Humans: The Evolution of Human-Equine Relationships,” edited by Sandra L. Olsen.

The horses were “reintroduced” to the continent [North America], unlike the Asian clams in Tahoe or the rabbits of Australia, which were inserted into regions where Nature never put them and where they could disrupt the ecological balance.

www.thecloudfoundation.org/edu…

The evidence thus favors the view that this species is "native" to North America, given any rational understanding of the term "native". By contrast, there are no paleontological or genetic grounds for concluding that it is native to any other continent.

 -Ross MacPhee, PhD





www.horsetalk.co.nz/news/2009/… and www.thecloudfoundation.org/edu…

Researchers who removed ancient DNA of horses and mammoths from permanently frozen soil in central Alaskan permafrost dated the material at between 7600 and 10,500 years old.

Some large species such as the horse became extinct in North America but persisted in small populations elsewhere, having crossed a land bridge into Asia.

But one core, deposited between 7,600 and 10,500 years ago, confirmed the presence of both mammoth and horse DNA. To make certain that the integrity of this sample had not been compromised by geologic processes (for example, that ancient DNA had not blown into the surface soils), the team did extensive surface sampling in the vicinity of Stevens Village. No DNA evidence of mammoth, horse, or other extinct species was found in modern samples, a result that supports previous studies which have shown that DNA degrades rapidly when exposed to sunlight and various chemical reactions.

www.horsetalk.co.nz/news/2009/…

Miners Sam and Lee Olynyk, and Ron Toews, who were working a claim in the Klondike, found the remains in September 1993. It has since been identified as a horsewhich once roamed the plains of the area and has been radiocarbon dated at 26,000 years old.

www.horsetalk.co.nz/features/n… , www.thecloudfoundation.org/edu…
byJay F. Kirkpatrick, Ph.D. andPatricia M. Fazio, Ph.D. Also available here: ispmb.org/WildHorsesInAmerica.…

The precise date of origin for the genus Equus is unknown, but evidence documents the dispersal of Equus from North America to Eurasia approximately 2-3 million years ago and a possible origin at about 3.4-3.9 million years ago. Following this original emigration, several extinctions occurred in North America, with additional migrations to Asia (presumably across the Bering Land Bridge), and return migrations back to North America, over time. The last North American extinction probably occurred between 13,000 and 11,000 years ago (Fazio 1995), although more recent extinctions for horses have been suggested. Dr. Ross MacPhee, Curator of Mammalogy at the American Museum of Natural History, and colleagues, have dated the existence of woolly mammoths and horses in North America to as recent as 7,600 years ago. Had it not been for previous westward migration, over the 2 Bering Land Bridge, into northwestern Russia (Siberia) and Asia, the horse would have faced complete extinction. However, Equus survived and spread to all continents of the globe, except Australia and Antarctica.

Thus, based on a great deal of paleontological data, the origin of E. caballus is thought to be about two million years ago, and it originated in North America.

Not only is E. caballus genetically equivalent to E. lambei, but no evidence exists for the origin of E. caballus anywhere except North America (Forstén 1992).

The issue of feralization and the use of the word "feral" is a human construct that has little biological meaning except in transitory behavior, usually forced on the animal in some manner. Consider this parallel: E. Przewalskii (Mongolian wild horse) disappeared from Mongolia a hundred years ago. It has survived since then in zoos. That is not domestication in the classic sense, but it is captivity, with keepers providing food and veterinarians providing health care. Then they were released during the 1990s and now repopulate their native range in Mongolia. Are they a reintroduced native species or not? And what is the difference between them [E. Przewalskii] and E. caballus in North America, except for the time frame and degree of captivity?