OIG wants BLM to step up horse management research

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management needs to step up its research into population control methods for wild horses to help curb the spiraling costs of rounding up the mustangs across the West and housing them in holding facilities, federal inspectors said Monday. The new report by the Interior Department's Office of Inspector General mostly defended the BLM roundups that often are criticized by horse protection advocates. The OIG said it observed roundups this year in Nevada, Oregon and California and visited several holding facilities, and it found no evidence of inhumane treatment of animals. The office concluded the roundups are necessary to cull the overpopulated herds, which take a toll on the health of the range as their populations naturally double about every four years. But the report also found there is a need for an "urgent and aggressive focus on research and testing of improved population control methods" to reduce the need for additional holding facilities and preserves...more