Bureau of Land Management officials will gather 350 burros from areas along the Arizona-California border next month. The burros they gather will be examined and taken to a facility for adoption to citizens willing to care for them.
Wildlife officials will begin gathering the animals on April near Yuma and Blythe, Calif. They’ll gather 350 wild burros in those areas, leaving the same number in the wild. The roundup is expected to take about two weeks, and agency officials say members of the public can watch.
The agency’s Wild Horse and Burro Program protects and manages the animals across the western United States It currently manages close to 1,600 head of wild burro in three herds.
According to the agency’s website, wild burros have no natural predators, so their numbers can double every four years. To control the populations, the BLM has been gathering wild burros each year and offers them for adoption. Since the “Adopt-a-Wild Horse or Burro” program began in 1973, the agency has successfully adopted out more than 207,000 animals.
More resources:
BLM's "How To Adopt a Wild Horse or Burro" page
NLM's page about the care of wild burros
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