PZP advocates put wild horses at risk of sterilization after roundup

Stop the Roundups!

Protect Mustangs calls for a freeze on roundups for scientific reevaluation

Tonopah, NV (October 31, 2014)–The Battle Mountain District, Tonopah Field Office is rounding up about 120 wild horses from within the Reveille Allotment and Herd Management Area (HMA) located approximately 50 miles east of Tonopah, NV to remove alleged excess wild horses on 600,000 acres of public land.

“The BLM is wiping out America’s wild horses and taxpayers are paying for the abuse,” states Anne Novak, executive director of Protect Mustangs. “We need to stop the roundups and protect our native wild horses.”

The roundup will stampede native wild horse families by helicopter over a fragile ecosystem and possible sage grouse habitat in the Great Basin Desert. Often wild horses are injured and die in roundups. The treacherous roundup is paid for with tax dollars, and began October 30, 2014. Most herds need to be rounded up before given PZP.

After the roundup, approximately 70 wild horses will be permanently removed, 60 wild horses will be sent to holding facilities in Ridgecrest, California and about 10 horses will be offered for adoption after the roundup in Tonopah, NV on November 8. The remaining 50 wild horses will be released back into the HMA for a post roundup population of 98 wild horses, putting the survivors at risk. The minimum number for genetic variability is 150 wild horses.

Often the BLM returns wild horses with conformation defects to the range, instead of placing them in adoptive homes or long-term holding where they will not breed. Apparently the agency doesn’t realize that by returning wild horses with defects they will ruin the breeding pool. The BLM claims mares selected to maintain herd characteristics will be released back to the HMA. The public must watchdog the agency to ensure wild horses with defects are pulled from the breeding pool and rehomed. Euthanizing them is not an option supported by the American public.

The informed public is outraged over an EPA approved restricted use pesticide called PZP, made from pigs ovaries, to be used on native wild horses. PZP advocates campaign rigorously to treat mares with the Porcine Zona Pellucidae (PZP-22) in order to temporarily sterilize mares. PZP advocates hail the use of PZP in spite of the fact that wild horses are underpopulated on millions of acres of public land.

Experimental research on ovary damage in mares given the immunocontraceptive PZP is used to hone the drug for eventual human use. This could be where the “follow the money” piece fits in. Wild horse advocates are furious America’s herds are being used as lab rats. Science has proven the drug sterilizes wild horses after multiple use. PZP advocates are pushing for BLM to manage wild horses “in the wild” using these risky drugs.

The devastation of wild horses in the Reveille Allotment appears to be subject to a 1987 District Court Order and two orders issued by the Interior Board of Land Appeals (IBLA) in 2001 and 2002, requiring BLM conduct an annual inventory of wild horses in the Reveille Allotment and initiate a roundup to remove alleged excess native horses from the Allotment when the inventory shows that population numbers exceed the out of date Appropriate Management Level (AML) of 138 horses.

Current AML does not represent healthy herd populations and lacks scientific merit. AML must be updated to ensure healthy herds remain on public land. The herd census must never fall below 150 wild horses to maintain genetic variability.

The current estimated population, based on previous inventory flights is 168 wild horses, according to BLM. This is the low end of the genetic viability scale. The orders need to be challenged based on scientific reevaluation of wild horses benefiting the ecosystem as a native species, livestock causing range damage and the minimum number of wild horses needed for genetic variability.

“We must ensure native wild horses can survive upcoming environmental changes,” states Anne Novak, executive director of Protect Mustangs. “The minimum population for a genetically variable herd is 150. Why are PZP advocates and the BLM allowing wild horse herds to fall below safe numbers?”

According to a press release from National Academy of Sciences (NAS) released June 5, 2013, “The U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) current practice of removing free-ranging horses from public lands promotes a high population growth rate, and maintaining them in long-term holding facilities is both economically unsustainable and incongruent with public expectations,” says a new report by the National Research Council.

The NAS report states there is “no evidence” of overpopulation. Only tobacco science and spin backs up BLM’s population claim to justify roundups and fertility control/sterilizations. PZP advocates lobbied NAS to have fertility control recommended even though the herds are underpopulated.

Roundup activities within the Reveille HMA were analyzed in the 2010 Reveille HMA Wild Horse Gather Plan and Environmental Assessment (EA) and the 2014 Reveille Wild Horse Gather Determination of NEPA Adequacy (DNA). The EA, DNA, and Decision Record can be accessed on the Reveille Wild Horse Gather website: http://on.doi.gov/10qLBlh.

Members of the public are encouraged to witness the helicopter stampede and document America’s icons losing their freedom to spread awareness that cruel roundups must stop. Observation protocols and visitor information are available at http://on.doi.gov/1xAMeTp. The BLM will post updates, photos and other information about the roundup on the Reveille website and on the hotline at 775-861-6700 throughout the course of the roundup.

The BLM is wiping out wild horses for the extractive industry and New Energy Frontier in the West. The agency manages more than 245 million acres of public land, the most of any Federal agency. This land, known as the National System of Public Lands, is primarily located in 12 Western states, including Alaska. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. The BLM focuses on their mandate of multiple-use and sustained yield. In Fiscal Year 2013, the BLM generated $4.7 billion in receipts from public lands.

BLM’s roundups disturb the thriving natural ecological balance by disturbing habitat dynamics. This crime against nature causes abnormally high birthrate and puts native wild horses at risk of inbreeding.

“We are calling for an immediate freeze on roundups and removals for scientific reevaluation,” states Novak. “Right now native wild horses are at risk of being ruined by bad policy.”

Protect Mustangs is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the conservation of native and wild horses. The group is against using PZP in the wild. Today most wild herds are threatened with low numbers and a lack of genetic variability. Using PZP in a sanctuary setting where acreage is limited is a different situation. Wild horses must not be managed in the wild as if they were a zoo exhibit.

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Links of interest™:

Info on PZP sterilizing mares: The Effects of Porcine Zona Pellucida Immunocontraception on Health and Behavior of Feral Horses (Equus caballus), Princeton http://dataspace.princeton.edu/jspui/handle/88435/dsp01vt150j42p

Princeton study on the pros and cons of adoption and immunocontraception: http://www.equinewelfarealliance.org/uploads/IEC.Rubenstein.pdf Not sure about EWA’s position on PZP now they might have embraced it like some others have.

Jamie Jackson’s piece on PZP: http://protectmustangs.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/PM-Jamie-Jackson-Using_Science_to_Improve_the_BLM_Wild_Horse_and_Burro_Program.pdf

Management of Wild Horses with Porcinezona Pellucida Pellucide: History, Consequences and Future Strategies, Cassandra M.V. Nuñez, Princeton: http://bit.ly/1rJywKl

Restricted use pesticide info: http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/chem_search/reg_actions/pending/fs_PC-176603_01-de info: Jan-12.pdf

Injection-Site Reactions in Wild Horses (Equus caballus) Receiving an Immunocontraceptive Vaccine, By James E. Roelle and Jason I. Ransom, http://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2009/5038/

Pilot project to treat wild horses in Fish Springs communityhttp://www.blm.gov/nv/st/en/info/newsroom/2014/april/blm_approves_pilot.html

and http://www.wildhorsepreservation.org/media/pzp-pilot-project-treat-wild-horses-fish-springs-community

BLM Nevada Advisory Council Endorses Fertility Control Plan (Oct. 20, 2014) http://www.returntofreedom.org/blm-nevada-advisory-council-endorses-fertility-control-plan-october20-2014/

BLM partners with The Cloud Foundation in the Pryorshttp://www.blm.gov/pgdata/etc/medialib/blm/mt/main_story.Par.31432.File.dat/TopStoryHorse.pdf

Why end natural selection in the Pryors? http://protectmustangs.org/?p=4941

Are wild horses at risk of being sterilized due to an advocacy campaign? http://protectmustangs.org/?p=6356

Ecologist Craig Downer speaks out against using PZP in the Pryorshttp://protectmustangs.org/?p=4178

Horse contraceptive study raises concerns  Horsetalk, NZ: http://www.horsetalk.co.nz/news/2010/10/220.shtml#ixzz3Hti8ioCv

Appeal to stop the wild horse wipe outhttp://protectmustangs.org/?p=6527

The Horse and Burro as Positively Contributing Returned Natives in North America by Craig Downer PhD candidate: http://www.sciencepublishinggroup.com/journal/paperinfo.aspx?journalid=118&doi=10.11648/j.ajls.20140201.12

Wild Horse Conspiracy by Craig Downer:  www.amazon.com/dp/1461068983

Conformation defectshttp://www.thehorse.com/articles/10115/conformation-in-horses

Genetic viabilityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_viability

Genetic variabilityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_variability

J. Kirkpatrick team get $100K for wild horse fertility control drug PZPhttp://tuesdayshorse.wordpress.com/2012/04/17/jay-kirkpatrick-team-get-100k-for-wild-horse-fertility-control-drug-pzp/

Making PZP at The Science and Conservation Centerhttp://www.sccpzp.org

Native wild horseshttp://protectmustangs.org/?page_id=562

Petition for shelter and shade for captive wild horses and burroshttp://www.change.org/p/bring-emergency-shelter-and-shade-to-captive-wild-horses-and-burros

Petition for 10 year moratorium on wild horse roundups for recovery and studieshttps://www.change.org/p/sally-jewell-urgent-grant-a-10-year-moratorium-on-wild-horse-roundups-for-recovery-and-studies

Petition to defund and stop the wild horse roundupshttp://www.change.org/p/defund-and-stop-the-wild-horse-burro-roundups

Join the Walking Billboard Campaign to STOP THE ROUNDUPS in Nevadahttps://www.booster.com/protect-mustangs-nevada

Sample of viral news clippings: https://newsle.com/AnneNovak

Anne Novak on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheAnneNovak

Protect Mustangs on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ProtectMustangs

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ProtectMustangs

www.ProtectMustangs.org

11 thoughts on “PZP advocates put wild horses at risk of sterilization after roundup

  1. 2500 is the number of individuals recommended for population viability of a wild equid population by the IUCN Species Survival Commission Equid Specialist Group as per its 1997 Action Plan that was published, not 150! Seems like BLM is indeed “managing for extinction”! See my in depth discussion of this in my newly updated and perfected book with expanded references and excellent index: The Wild Horse Conspiracy. Look in index under Minimum Viable Population or if using the eBook put this into the Search bar. The link is http://www.amazon.com/dp/1461068983

  2. The BLM is going to make sure that America’s wild horses are rendered extinct. We must demand a moratorium on these round ups!! Keep writing your congressmen and reps! Educate as many people as you can about this annihilation. There is strength in numbers and it is the only way to stop this. Shame on the so called advocates that have jumped on this “Road to Extinction” bandwagon by agreeing to pump mares full of PZP! There are not enough horses left as it is!

  3. This is truly a serious issue. It is not black and white but it is a difficult scenario for many people to grasp. Wildlife does overpopulate when predators are removed. PZP has been suggested for use on deer in the East where White Tails are a real traffic hazard. Yet, people have said no to that too. People are not stupid when something comes close to their lives and they need to understand. We want the public to have the chance to know all they need to make an informed decision. Fair play would be good to foster in this and not anger. Opinions are based on many things. This needs to be based on facts and not on drug licensing, sales and management that has people around the world amazed that we can be so unsophisticated and non holistic about the management of our very special wild horses and wild burros. Corporate influences are taking our natural world down the road to destruction… and we are so far gone in some places we will never reclaim much of what we are losing. Please always support the wild horses and burros rights to their own lands and their freedom and a future living free of harassment. I see BLM’s management of the wild ones as constant harassment. Constant pressure to break their spirits and possess them, dead or alive. I do not want this to continue. Freeze the Round Ups. Stop Harassment. Stop death. Look for a holistic future. PZP is too quick a fix and should not be used on our wild herds specifically and small herds need more horses, new blood to stop inbreeding. Our wild mares are a marvel. Keep them safe and healthy. This is a long term threat to wild herds. Please help them to reproduce and rebound. We are losing them.

  4. It is very obviously the Department of the Interior’s goal via the BLM is to eliminate our wild horses. They have no idea how to treat animals in a humane manner. Over and over they kill them, maim them and put the survivors in tiny holding pens and God only knows what else they do to them that we can’t observe! They are not leaving enough horses to make the natural nature of reproducing feasible. Then you add the PZP treatment to the mares making them sterile and you have a lose lose situation for the horses. It is very obvious to me that their goal is to quietly rid the West of our precious horses and they appear to be getting away with it. I’m saddened that I can’t do more as I know we all are. Keep up the fight everyone we never know when the next thing we do will be the breakthrough!

  5. Without a wide gene pool of traits and physicalities, the wild horse and burro become whatever the district wild horse specialist (and whoever pull their strings) decide is to be out there. I saw a stallion out on Sand Wash that looked like a prized quarter horse. Obviously, a release.

    This PZP campaign is a coordinated attack attempting to lower the profile of the horses and burros. Some say, if we didn’t have so many out there the ranchers wouldn’t mind them. Some say, the PZP will be our offer to appease the call for roundups. Some day, the PZP will keep them out of holding. These are advocates who should know better and I think they do.

    I think these are voices of defeat, appeasement and compromise. The question is – why? Why have they been involved? All the money they have asked for and been donated to them and HERE WE ARE.

    The numbers are spiraling down. PZP will allow BLM to “manage” who breeds creating the perfectly marketable wild horse or burro. Want a palomino? Sure. Next year, blacks will be favored – okay we can do that. Like the buckskim? Or sorry, those have all been gelded – but we have some ranch horses we can throw out there. Sure – just like a huge zoo. Hey – then BLM can charge to go see your wild horses and extra for burros.

    HSUS, PZP advocates have opened the wallets of taxpayer funds now on the backs of the last wild horses and burros. All the breeding stock is gelded and in holdng, our grandchildren will never know the thrill of FREEDOM in the thundering hooves and neighs and whinnys and humor inspiring brays of our precious wild horses and burros.

    Now – choose who you stand with. If it is with those who are passionately against PZP, spaying or chemical neutering, welcome. Don’t look back. Forget the pleas of dirty clothes and miles of flying and driving. The horses could care less, they need us to make changes for THEM!!!

  6. Talking with a Biologist at the EPA, she stressed all of this on the chart, i.e. PZP Pesticide Fact Sheet, very significant, and PZP very dangerous in the wilds and effect, even though indirectly, many different types of wildlife — If a horse is killed by a Predator, for example, it has many pathways to inhabit (poisonous meat/flesh not fit for consumption whether human or animal, and organs — from the horse with PZP imposed upon it) different animals passing to other animals, etc., and into the marine ecological zones as well — Oh, when asked to sign the Petition, no one told you this — that is because they were hiding it, or were totally unknowledgeable about the PZP situation other than what they were manipulated to believe! You can ask for you name to be taken off the Petition immediately! PZP is not going to help this Wild Horse situation at all, as a matter of fact will simply make it worse — many other reasons why also!

    Below taken directly from the Fact Sheet Chart:
    Terrestrial and Semi Aquatic Plants — Indirect Effects — Yes
    Terrestrial Invertebrates — Indirect effects — Yes
    Birds (Surrogate . . .Ambitions and Reptile) — Indirect Effects — Yes
    Mammals — Indirect Effects — Yes
    Aquatic Vascular Plants — Indirect Effects — Yes
    Aquatic Non-Vascular Plants — Indirect Effects — Yes
    Fresh Water Fish — Indirect Effects — Yes
    Freshwater Invertebrates — Indirect Effects — Yes
    Freshwater benthic Invertebrates — Indirect Effects — Yes
    Estuarine/Marine Fish — Indirect Effects — Yes
    Estuarine Marine Crustaceans — Indirect Effects — Yes
    Estuarine Marine mollusks — Indirect Effects — Yes

  7. This is shocking but understandable that so many intricate consequences are not discussed by the pushers of the PZP. Of course they know. In order for their participation in administering the drug, they have all stated they attended the Science and Conservation program that is Dr Kirkpatrick’s institute. I am going to assume they all know the full circle including the devastating downside for the genetic viability of the wild ones.

    I did not sign the “Keep them in the Wild” petition – not believing their leadership to be honest. The income is where they are heading. The destruction of our wildland freedoms is not their concern.

  8. To believe that PZP will give us time to fight the BLM constant removal of our wild horses and burros is extremely naive. Time to get data together? Why isn’t this already done with the amount of man hours that advocates are supposedly spending on the range? Where is a HMA by HMA accounting of the numbers and removals? You can get this information by FOIA but I know for a fact that various reports will contradict each other as to both number removed and whereabouts of said horses. If PZP, in its current stage of research, were used on a human it would be classified as an experimental drug with tightly controlled double blind research studies. Instead of safeguarding the health of each individual horse and the herd as a whole we, shockingly, have advocates promoting the use of an experimental drug. With the bit of research that has been done we have no real idea of what will be the lasting effects of this drug on herd management. And by herd management I am not referring to the artificial man interference type. I am talking about the genetics of the herd, the survival of the fittest. BLM returns to the herd some horses. I was not aware that they were returning horses who suffered genetic defects. That is inexcusable. Even if this were not the truth who amongst the BLM employees are educated enough to know who carries the strongest genes to survive the changing times?

    Only a complete moratorium on roundups will save our horses. PZP is only the demon administered after the horses have been run half to death in, yes, a roundup. I guess BLM considers if they can survive the terror and physical exhaustion of the roundup they are superior horses. PZP is NOT the answer as long as we have the vast majority of herds teetering on the edge of genetic extinction.

  9. When I have viewed the internet adoptions managed by the BLM, many of the horses’ colors are not listed correctly. To have the BLM decide on the best mares is worrisome to me. Also worrisome is having the BLM set their numbers too low under pressure from the Public Lands Ranchers and the Frackers.

    I don’t appreciate seeing our wild horses being wiped out before our very eyes. There is no need to use PZP or any other fertility control drugs when the herd numbers need to be increased for genetic herd viability.

  10. PZP is not a fix its a lie, it wont help anything as most proof out there says it will only make things worse, Its a lie what really needs to be done is that the cruel barbaric disgusting round ups needs to be stopped so that more research can be done and that facts can be proven and shown and televised by those YOU WILL NOT ALLOW IN TO SEE WHATS GOING ON in other words the good guys. Keep your hands off the wild horses, its their land not yours, live with not against thats a life fact you cowards need to learn. peace always, James.

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