In this 2014 file photo, a young wild horse that escaped a roundup trots across the prairie in Sweetwater County, Wyo.
ROCK SPRINGS, Wyo. — The U.S. Bureau of Management is accepting public comments through the end of April on plans to remove some 3,500 wild horses from public land in southwestern Wyoming.
The federal agency seeks to allow between 1,500 and 2,165 wild horses on five herd management areas in the Red Desert outside Rock Springs.
An estimated 5,105 wild horses currently live in those areas, according to the BLM.
A man was recently caught on surveillance video riding a horse through a Bozeman Town Pump store. Town Pump shared the video to their Facebook page, jokingly asking that customers leave their horses outside in the future.
The roundups could begin as soon as July and be completed this year or occur over several years, according to a BLM analysis at a website where public comments may be submitted.
The animals would be collected from traps or by ropers on horseback after being herded using a helicopter, the Rock Springs Rocket-Miner reports.
The horses would be sent to holding facilities where they would be prepared for adoption. Horses that don't meet adoption criteria would be sent to off-range pastures.
Some horses released back to the range would be given birth control — immunocontraceptives and intrauterine devices — under the agency's preferred plan for the roundups.
Other options being considered include not rounding up any horses. Ranchers in the area complain the animals compete with cattle for forage. Horse advocates say roundups are cruel.
Photos: Pryor Mountains are home to enchanting equines
Photos: Pryor Mountains are home to enchanting equines
Horses grazing
A band of wild horses in the East Pryor Mountains graze.
Horses running
A band of horses run across a field.
Wild horses spar
Wild horses spar in the Pryor Mountains.
Unique views
Traveling through the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range offers unique views while searching for the horses.
Horses grooming
A wild horse grooms the shoulder of another member of the band.
Nuzzling
Two horses nuzzle in the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range.
The Devil's Canyon Overlook
The Devil's Canyon Overlook in the Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area attracts tourists looking for wild horses in the desert lowlands of the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range.
The Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range
Two horses from a band in the East Pryor Mountains nuzzle in the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range. The range was established in 1968 and was the first public wild horse range in the United States according to the Pryor Mountain Wild Mustang Center.
The Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range
Although ordered by a District Court judge to recalculate the accepted number of horses for the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range, the Bureau of Land Management came up with the same number — 90-120 horses.
Wild horses spar
Although ordered by a District Court judge to recalculate the accepted number of horses for the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range, the Bureau of Land Management came up with the same number — 90-120 horses.
Grazing on grass
A horse grazes in the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range.
Many horses
There are roughly 170 wild horses and 22 bands in the mountains, according to the Wild Horse Center.
A horse and a colt
A horse and a colt run across a field in the East Pryor Mountain. Out of the nine fouls born this year, eight survived according to the Wild Mustang Center.
See horses closely
The Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range offers the opportunity for tourists to see wild horses closely.
