Lawsuit Filed Over Pryor Mustangs | Big Horn Basin Media

Lawsuit Filed Over Pryor Mustangs

Written by on April 17, 2018

A lawsuit filed against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service would seek greater protection for the Pryor Mountain Wild Mustang Herd.
According to an article in the Lovell Chronicle, the Friends of Animals advocacy group contends that the herd carries a unique genetic lineage dating back to historic Spanish heritage – and that the Bureau of Land Management is more concerned about the land than the creatures that inhabit it.
The group’s president, Priscilla Feral, says that current BLM regulations allow for between 90 and 120 animals in the herd management area. But Michael Harris, director of the Wildlife Law Program for the Friends of Animals says that BLM’s management at these levels would eventually cause harm to this unique set of horses because of their genetic lineage, which could affect their health and their make-up. He says other horses may have to be brought into the gene pool in order to boost the herd’s numbers, and that would alter the characteristics that make them unique.
Harris argues that an endangered species designation would switch focus from preserving the land, which is a primary mission of the BLM, to preserving the horses, with more involvement by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife agency. And Feral points out that there isn’t enough forage in the herd management area to leave the horses the way they are.
The Friends of Animals group is an international animal protection organization headquartered in Connecticut.


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