Wild Mustang/Burro Campaigns

The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign: Today is World Donkey Day!! World Donkey Day is dedicated to promoting awareness and appreciation for donkeys – including our beloved wild burros. To commemorate this day, American Wild Horse Conservation (AWHC) is leading a Day of Action to protect both wild burros and domestic donkeys across the globe! TAKE ACTION FOR DONKEYS AND BURROS! >> Like wild horses, burros are faced with significant threats to their freedom and safety as a result of misguided federal policy that prioritizes cruel roundups instead of humane in-the-wild management. This summer alone, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is planning to round up over 1,600 wild burros from their natural habitats. The majority of these roundups will be done with helicopters.  Unlike wild horses, who generally panic and stay together during roundups and follow their herd to the trap site, wild burros are stoic animals who often stand their ground in the face of the helicopters or scatter in an attempt to avoid capture. As a result, roundups can be even more traumatic for burros. To make matters worse, the captured animals will then be funneled into an overburdened holding system, where 64,000 wild horses and burros already languish. Then, they are at risk of entering the slaughter pipeline thanks to the BLM’s disastrous Adoption Incentive Program (AIP), which was exposed by the New York Times as a pipeline to slaughter for “truckloads” of animals. Donkeys and burros are especially at risk of slaughter in foreign slaughter plants due to the global demand for ejiao – a gelatin made from boiling donkey skins. Experts estimate that the global demand for donkey skins is approximately 4.8 million hides per year. As a result, the donkey skin trade is decimating global donkey populations. Luckily, countries across the world are starting to take action. Just this year, 54 African countries joined together to ban the ejiao trade. The United States is the third largest importer of ejiao and is fueling this cruel trade. But, the good news is that Congress is taking notice.  Representative Don Beyer (D-VA) recently reintroduced the ​​Ejiao Act (H.R. 6021), aimed at ending the United States’ involvement in this trade. This legislation would prohibit the transportation, sale, and purchase of donkeys or donkey hides for the purpose of producing ejiao and prohibit the transportation, sale, and purchase of products containing ejiao. In honor of World Donkey Day, please join ...

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The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign: My name is Nicole Hayes and I’m AWHC’s Conservation Scientist! I’m reaching out today because tomorrow is World Donkey Day! This is an important day for me and every member of my team at American Wild Horse Conservation because it falls in May, or Burro Awareness Month! This is a month-long celebration of the unique lives and benefits of our wild burros! TAKE ACTION FOR DONKEYS AND BURROS! >> In the spirit of World Donkey Day, I want to share a personal story about the burros who inhabit some of the wildest corners of the American West. Dusk was settling in the Big Smoky Valley in Nevada. I was road-tripping with AWHC state director Tracy Wilson last year, and we took an unplanned detour to some well-known hot springs just before sunset. To our surprise, we started to notice wild burros coming into the water around all us. To respect their space, we moved to our vehicle and watched for over an hour as 30 to 40 wild burros descended on the springs for a drink of water before nightfall. It was my second encounter ever with wild burros and my first time seeing so many! That afternoon was one of the most memorable experiences of my conservation career — and an important reminder that wild burro conservation is crucial. DONATE NOW TO DONKEYS AND BURROS! >> Burros serve as remarkable ecosystem engineers. Research shows that wild burros actually boost water availability in deserts across the American West. Wells dug by burros in the Sonoran and Mojave deserts serve as a water source for more than five dozen native species. In fact, sometimes burro wells are their only water source. This Burro Awareness Month, join us in taking action to protect the donkeys of the American West against mass roundups and removals by the Bureau of Land Management. Then, voice your support for these precious animals on social media with the hashtags #KeepWildBurrosWild and #SaveOurBurros! DONATE NOW Thank you! Together we can make a difference for America’s wild herds. Nicole Hayes Conservation Scientist American Wild Horse Conservation ...

The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign: My team let me know that it has been a while since we heard from you, so we wanted to check in. Recently, a lot has been going on in the fight to conserve the freedom and habitat of America’s wild horses and burros. And we want to make sure you are in the loop. On Capitol Hill, several critical bills are being considered that will advance humane reforms to the federal management of our nation’s wild herds. One of these bills is the Wild Horse and Burro Protection Act of 2023-2024 (H.R. 3656), which seeks to prohibit costly and inhumane helicopter roundups of wild horses and burros. American Wild Horse Conservation (AWHC) is working hard to pass this key legislation. We recently led a Day of Action, leading to over 20,000 letters sent to Congress urging support for the bill. AWHC is also advocating for provisions to be added to the Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 appropriations bills that would require the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to enact several key reforms to its Wild Horse and Burro Program, such as:

• Allocate no less than 10% of the agency's budget for the implementation of humane fertility control programs in at least five additional Herd Management Areas (HMAs). If the BLM fails to do this 120 days after the passage of this bill, it will incur a$100,000 fine per dayuntil it implements acceptable fertility control programs. • Ensure no funds are used for permanent mare surgical sterilization. • Study humane alternatives to the use of helicopters. • End the BLM’s cash incentive component of the disastrous Adoption Incentive Program (AIP), which has funneled hundreds of wild horses and burros into the slaughter pipeline. •And more!

FUEL OUR GR WORK In the field, we’ve embarked on an exciting new initiative called the Land Conservancy Project. This innovative program aims to preserve and enhance key habitats for America's wild horses and burros to support self-sustaining wild horse populations in ecological balance with the land and other wildlife. To this end, AWHC recently acquired 3,300+ acres of prime habitat in Nevada’s beautiful Carson Valley to serve as a pilot program for the project. We’re also expanding our fieldwork, conducting humane, reversible fertility control programs on local wild horse herds. For the past four years, we’ve implemented the world’s largest humane management program for wild horses on Nevada’s Virginia Range. Now, we’ve recently been approved for a ...

The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign: We have important updates to share with you in this week’s edition of eNews! Read on to learn about a new Bureau of Land Management (BLM) conservation rule, get a look inside a BLM adoption event, and take action to protect burros and their domestic donkey counterparts! BLM’s New Conservation Rule and Wild Horses Photo by Tandin Chapman This month, the BLM finalized a new rule that aims to integrate conservation into its current public lands management. This final rule affirms that conservation efforts are on equal footing with other multi-uses across the 245 million acres of public lands the BLM manages. Read more to learn about what this means for wild horses. READ MORE Inside BLM’s Wild Horse and Burro Adoption Event: Poteau Oklahoma Photo by Nenah Demunster This month, one of American Wild Horse Conservation’s humane roundup observers attended a BLM adoption event in Poteau, Oklahoma. This was a huge adoption event with about 140 horses and burros available for adoption. Read her observations and see her photos from the day. READ THE REPORT Take Action for Wild Burros Photo by Steve Paige Did you know May is Burro Awareness Month? AWHC started Burro Awareness Month to promote awareness and appreciation for these unique residents of the American Southwest. With May just days away, what better way to get a head start on the month than by taking action to protect both burros and domestic donkeys? Please take a moment to urge your representatives to cosign the Ejiao Act. This bill would ban the importation of products made with ejiao, a gelatin made from boiling the hides of donkeys. TAKE ACTION NOW! Thanks for reading. And thank you for continuing to stand up for our cherished wild horses and burros! — Team AWHC ...

The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign: Over the past few days, our team has told you about the critical work our Rescue Fund does to help wild horses and burros in need of rescue. Now, we’re going to share another rescue story that shows how important this program is to help change the lives of these iconic animals – but first, please chip in to help us reach our $25,000 Rescue Fund goal before the deadline tonight! We just checked the numbers and we’re only $5,285 away from our goal! >> POWER OUR RESCUE FUND Meet Jesse James and Butch Cassidy! These two Bureau of Land Management (BLM) burros have lived happily and freely with our friends at Montgomery Creek Ranch (MCR) for over two years now, and we are proud to have been able to support the initial rescue, which brought them there. In 2021, AWHC’s investigations team came across four burros at a notorious slaughter auction in Oklahoma. The first thing that caught their eye was that all four of these burros were horrifically abused – some were even used as hot branding practice. It was a heartbreaking sight, as they had visible open wounds all over their little bodies. (Content warning) We quickly paid the funds needed for their bail, initial vet care costs, and their transport to MCR. There, the burros were able to recover both physically and emotionally, and two of them were adopted soon after. The two others, Jesse James and Butch Cassidy, still live there today and are waiting to go to their forever home! Click here to watch an update on these two burro “outlaws” from MCR earlier this year! Your generosity enables us to help save the lives of wild horses and burros like these two from suffering. And this year over 20,000 wild horses and burros are targeted for roundups, and we want to be ready to leap into action at a moment’s notice. Please, will you contribute today to help recharge our Rescue Fund so we can continue powering more rescues of at-risk horses and burros? We’re $5,285 away from reaching our $25,000 Rescue Fund goal, but there’s still time to reach it if everyone chips in before the deadline tonight! HELP US REACH OUR GOAL Thank you! Team AWHC ...