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Authorities are investigating the slaughter of dozens of horses in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests in October. The Forest Service makes a distinction between wild horses, which are protected by law, and feral horses, which are not.

At least 30 horses were found shot to death in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests in October, highlighting the tensions in Arizona among scientists, hunters, government agencies and horse advocates. Read more»

Logan also found clear efforts by the Forest Service to go above and beyond its due diligence by gathering stakeholders to discuss the horses before their roundup.

A federal judge in Arizona has ruled that 18 horses seized by the U.S. Forest Service should not be re-introduced into the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests because they are considered unregulated livestock instead of protected wild horses. Read more»

A wild horse grazes.

Attorneys for the International Society for the Protection of Mustangs and Burros argued in federal court Friday that 18 horses seized by the U.S. Forest Service should be moved to a national forest, not sold to free market buyers or, potentially, slaughterers. Read more»

A herd of federally protected horses near Heber, Arizona will be reduced from about 400 horses to 100, the Forest Service said.

Later this year, the U.S. Forest Service will finalize a management plan for a herd of horses near the Heber Wild Horse Territory - which touches six cattle grazing allotments in Black Canyon - and though the public comment period ended last year, the community is still split. Read more»

Horses graze on the grass where a fire scar helped promote its regrowth at the base of Ponderosa pine trees in Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests, where the Heber Wild Horse Territory is home to many feral horses in the high central Arizona area.

Wild horse advocates have created a stable of volunteers hoping to prove a concept of fertility control will work better to keep the population of wild horses in a healthy range than other practices currently used by the federal government. Read more»

Arizona had an estimated 530 wild horses last year, while states like Nevada had thousands.  To reduce their impact on the environment, the animals are rounded up by the Bureau of Land Management and offered for adoption.

Thousands of wild horses and burros roam millions of acres of public land in 10 Western states, including Arizona. The Bureau of Land Management estimated last year that there are more than three times as many as there should be. Read more»

Wild horses at Arizona's Salt River.

The number of wild horses in the West has soared, but animal welfare groups bristle at measures to control them, including eased limits on sales of captured horses to private parties — which raises fears about the animals possibly being funneled to slaughterhouses to become food for pets and people. Read more»

Every year, thousands of people visit the Salt River to experience the riparian area in the Sonoran Desert. But they'll likely also see piles of horse manure, from wild horses that wildlife experts say is a harmful invasive species. Read more» 1

Girl approaches wild burro with curiosity in Oatman, Ariz.

The more than 400 wild burros that are an economic boon for the small town of Oatman are considered an over-populated nuisance by some in western Arizona. The animals are a danger along roadways, and compete with native wild animals for food. The BLM is experimenting with birth control to manage the herds. Read more»

Wild horses, like these in Nevada, are protected by federal law. But the Forest Service says horses in Tonto National Forest enjoy no such protection and had proposed a roundup.

The U.S. Forest Service said Thursday it has put a planned roundup of up to 100 horses in the Tonto National Forest on hold until September, when Congress returns from recess. Read more»

A wild burro north of Artillery Peak in the Alamo Herd Management Area.

The federal government’s program of rounding up wild horses and burros is costly and does little to stem the growth of herds – and may actually be helping herds grow, a new report said Wednesday. Read more»

Wild horses grazing in New Mexico.

Two congressmen wrote to the Department of Interior this week to demand information on the progress of its investigation into whether more than 1,700 federally protected wild horses sold to a Colorado man may have been illegally sent to slaughter. Read more»

A lone mustang who escaped the helicopters watches a Bureau of Land Management roundup in the Stone Cabin Valley in Nevada during the winter of 2012.

Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar says he will tighten regulations of the federal government's wild horse program, restricting the number of horses people can buy and making it easier for the government to prosecute buyers who sell mustangs to slaughter. Read more» 1

Colorado officials are considering whether to prosecute Tom Davis, who has bought more than 1,700 wild horses from the federal government since 2008, for violating laws meant to deter livestock theft.

A southern Colorado man under investigation for his handling of protected wild horses has admitted to state regulators that he shipped animals out of Colorado in violation of brand inspection laws, officials said. Read more»

A lone mustang who escaped the helicopters watches a Bureau of Land Management roundup in the Stone Cabin Valley in Nevada during the winter of 2012.

What happened to the wild horses Tom Davis bought from the government? The BLM has sold Davis at least 1,700 wild horses and burros since 2009, — 70 percent of the animals purchased through its sale program. Read more» 11

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