KINGMAN — As part of a federal program to reduce the overcrowding of exotic animals that roam the mountains east of Bullhead City, more than a dozen wild donkeys jumped at the chance to return to their adapted habitat this week.
As the doors of our stock trailer opened, 14 donkeys scrambled at the eastern end of Black Mountain near Golden Valley.
This release was part of the second collection session that started in October 2022. The current program began with a plan to exterminate about 700 wild donkeys using a nationwide bait trap contract. Some of the collected donkeys became part of the ongoing Humane Society’s Pig Clear Zone Project. PZP is one of his two fertility control vaccines being studied by BLM for widespread use to control wild horse and donkey populations on public lands.
“In one study led by scientists associated with the Cornell College of Veterinary Medicine and the Northwest Wildlife Conservation Research, a swine zona pellucida vaccine known as SpayVac lasted longer when injected into the muscles and muscles of the neck. BLM described its efforts to find what BLM Director Tracy Stone-Manning called a “humane, safe, and durable fertility vaccine.”
In another study, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service’s National Wildlife Research Center is testing an oocyte growth factor vaccine.
A vaccine under study could be a valuable tool for controlling the wild horse and donkey populations that overburden public lands, especially in the Southwest.
“Wild horses are incredible animals, but they can breed at very high rates on public lands, which creates a lot of challenges in arid environments,” said Stone-Manning, adding that the study found that He said it was part of the agency’s efforts. It is an effort to protect these herds from the effects of overpopulation, drought and climate change. “
The current gather release program is part of the PZP research. The donkeys released in the Black Mountains (13 Jenny and his one young Jack) were among about 60 donkeys collected from the area in the latest survey. Females were spayed before being released into the wild.
As part of BLM’s donkey management program, approximately 600 donkeys were recruited from the Black Mountain herd, some were adopted by civilians, and 42 were released into the wild.
It is estimated that there are about 1,500 donkeys in the Black Mountains, more than three times the optimal management number of 478 set by BLM officials. However, BLM estimates there are around 3,000, so the current numbers are improving. one year ago.
A local collection operation, overseen by the Kingman Field Office in the BLM Colorado River District, was based on previous collections in which 1,109 wild donkeys (447 adult Jacks, 550 adult Jennys, and 112 foals) were collected. was carried out subsequently. His 16 donkeys, including his nine Jennys, treated as part of the PZP trial, were released near the capture site and the rest were sent to his BLM’s out-of-range pen near Florence, Arizona. , can now be adopted privately.
“The purpose of collection is to address the overpopulation of wild donkeys within the Black Mountain Herd Management Area, to promote natural ecological balance, to mitigate rangeland degradation, and to increase the availability of wild donkeys outside the Herd Management Area. areas not designated for long-term use and to address public safety and private property concerns,” said a statement from the BLM Kingman Field Office. .
“BLM manages free-roaming wild horses and donkeys on public lands as part of its multi-purpose mission to support healthy wild horses and donkeys on healthy public grazing land. The BLM is responsible for determining and maintaining the appropriate level of management for each herd, and includes various controls, including using contraception to limit breeding in some herds and removing excess animals from the range. We are working to reach that population target through the process.”
Donkeys are a living legacy of the region’s mining history. Animals were brought into the area as pack animals. When mining operations stopped, companies realized it was cheaper to release the animals into the wild than to ship them elsewhere. Over the course of generations, the donkey population exploded virtually unabated.
The problem is exacerbated by the spread of development into existing habitats and lack of food and water, forcing range expansion.
Bullhead City is one community looking for help with BLM. Wild donkeys are protected by the federal government under the Wild and Free-Roaming Horses and Barro Act of 1971, so local governments have options to remove the animals or control their numbers. Almost never. Large donkeys roam between Oatman and Bullhead City, often roaming Highway 68 between Bullhead City and Golden Valley, and Bullhead Parkway, which runs along the eastern edge of the city, often on their own. and pose a safety hazard to drivers and cause many traffic accidents. accident in recent years.
Golden Valley resident Butch Merriweather contributed to this report.
