25 Burros Dead. How Many More?
The following is from the American Wild Horse Conservation:
May is Burro Awareness Month — a time to celebrate and protect these intelligent, resilient animals who’ve roamed the American West for generations. But despite their ecological and cultural importance, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) continues to manage them in the most cruel and costly way.
And Meredith, this has deadly consequences. Last month, at least 25 wild burros died at the BLM’s Axtell holding facility in Utah from the gammaherpes virus.
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They were chased with helicopters for potentially miles, removed from their home in the Canyonlands Herd Management Area, and funneled into an overburdened holding facility.
These roundups are particularly hard for these sensitive animals and the stress of removal and confinement can lead to disease outbreaks like the gammaherpes virus, but also a condition called hyperlipemia. This often fatal disease causes burros to become lethargic and stop eating.
This tragedy isn’t an isolated incident.
In 2023, 45 Nevada burros died at the same facility, and over half died due to hyperlipemia. Others died during geldings or had to be euthanized due to preventable health issues. In 2016, another outbreak claimed even more burros’ lives.
Yet, nearly a decade later, the BLM continues the same cruel pattern: more roundups, more confinement, more deaths.
Over 64,000 wild horses and burros are now trapped in government holding facilities. This is costing taxpayers tens of millions, and it’s costing the animals their lives.
It doesn’t have to be this way.
With your help, we can:
- Demand accountability from the BLM.
- Promote humane, science-based alternatives to roundups.
- Advocate for real wild burro conservation (not feedlots).
Give now to protect wild burros
The system is failing. Let’s not allow any more burros to die without meaningful conservation reform.
For the wild ones,
American Wild Horse Conservation