On Saturday the Bureau of Land Management's Wild Horse and Burro Facility in Delta, Utah held their annual auction hoping to find homes for 362 wild Mustangs.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) protects, manages, and controls wild horses and burros under the authority of the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971 (Act) to ensure that healthy herds thrive on healthy rangelands. The BLM manages these living symbols of the Western spirit as part of the 1976 Federal Land Policy and Management Act .

2 and 3 year old mares nip at each other while waiting for adoption...photo by Scott Sommerdorf of the Salt lake Tribune

One of the BLM's key responsibilities under the Act is to determine the "appropriate management level" (AML) of wild horses and burros on the public rangelands. These animals have virtually no natural predators and their herd size can double about every four years. As a result, an estimated 33,000 wild horses and burros roam BLM-managed lands in 10 Western states, a population that exceeds by some 5,700 the number that can exist in balance with other public rangeland resources and uses.

To help restore the balance, the BLM gathers thousands of wild horses and burros from public rangelands each year and offers them for adoption or sale to those individuals and groups willing and able to provide humane, long-term care.

The majority of the horses being auctioned are from the "Sulphur Herd" which are direct decendants of the horses from the Spanish Conquisadors. The Spanish Conquistadors began exploring the southwest 400 years ago on horseback.   Some of the horses escaped from the conquuistadors and became wild, eventually forming what has become known as the "Sulphur Herd" that roams the mountaind and valleys of the Great Basin in southwestern Utah.

The animals they brought were smaller than horses today with distinct brownish colors, stripes on their legs and chest, black-framed ears, and two-colored tail and manes. 

Sadly, this year only 7 of them were adopted attributed to the economic issues of rising transportation and feed costs.

Group of Wild Mustangs in Delta, Utah...photo by Scott Sommerdorf of the Sat Lakr Tribune

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