US wild horses under threat

Concern grows over the numbers of wild horses in Nevada, USA

There are growing concerns in the State of Nevada in the United States over the numbers of horses roaming wild on theVirginia Range.

Assembleywoman, Marcia De Braga is calling on the State government to “manage” the herds better and reduce the numbers.

She believes some may have to be sold.

There are estimated to be around 1,200 horses in the area and warns that the area can only sustain around 600.

“It has suffered from drought during the past few years and there isn’t a huge amount of food, ” says Marcia. “Our concern is that with the snow now here, some of them will die from starvation.”

The wild horses go down close to the city of Reno into housing developments and pose a problem for residents and there are cases where they are hit by cars and trucks on the roads.

Marcia said there was an “adoption” scheme in the US whereby people can take on a horse for a year and promise to feed and take care of it. But she warned that the horses on the range were wild.

“We do have a programme running in prisons whereby the prisoners are given the job of getting to know the horses and getting them familiar with people,” said Marcia. “It helps to gentle them down.”

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