Foaling season is here

The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign:

The Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) helicopters have officially stopped rounding up wild horses for the 2022 foaling season, which runs from March through June.

This is a time when the BLM grounds their helicopters for four months as mares give birth and tiny foals are on the ground. But this year, the helicopters will continue to fly. The target? Wild burros. The BLM’s rationale? Burros do not have a distinct foaling season, so they are fair game year-round.

Unlike horses, who will generally stay together in their social groups as they are chased into traps, burros tend to scatter and stand firm against the helicopters, resulting in prolonged and traumatic chases in extreme desert conditions. The skids of helicopters have even been documented hitting burros in the chase.

So, while wild horses may be getting a respite during this year’s foaling season, nearly 2,000 wild burros will lose their freedom starting in April.

And, AWHC will not stop fighting for them. In addition to sending observers to witness and record the unprecedented number of burro helicopter roundups, our work in the field to establish fertility control as a humane management alternative continues. We’ll also be on Capitol Hill, supporting the 2022 Horse Protection Platform, which includes banning the use of helicopters to round up wild horses and burros. In the courts, we’ll be litigating to end the BLM’s cash incentive adoption program that is sending “truckloads” of wild horses and burros into the slaughter pipeline.

Your support has helped us make historic strides in the fight for wild horses and burro protection.

Through your actions, we’ve saved hundreds of horses and burros from slaughter. We’ve gained momentum in Congress with champions like Representatives Steve Cohen and Dina Titus. And we’ve started funding scientific initiatives. Thanks to you, we’re supporting research on the important role wild horses and burros play in Western ecosystems and analysis to prove humane fertility control ultimately cuts costs for American taxpayers.

All of this has been made possible through your support and donations. So during this foaling season, as new life is beginning on the range, our fight for these cherished animals continues. Will you please send in a donation to help us continue our work in the field, on the Hill, and in the courts to protect wild horses and burros?

We couldn’t do this without you,

Suzanne Roy
Executive Director
American Wild Horse Campaign