RENO — The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) asked the American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) to evaluate the handling, health care and welfare of the wild horses and burros at various gathers and facilities. As part of its evaluation, the AAEP BLM Task Force visited the Antelope Gather on Wednesday and Thursday to observe and evaluate conditions at the gather. The Antelope Gather is the third gather the AAEP has visited during the BLM’s current gather season.

The task force data collection will be limited to the safety, health status, health management, care, handling and welfare of wild horses and burros in the BLM program. A written report of the findings and any related recommendations will be supplied to the BLM.

The Antelope Gather continued Friday in the Goshute Herd Management Area (HMA) with the gather site being moved to the north end. The BLM Elko District has gathered 1,029 wild horses from the Antelope Complex and eight horses have been released back to the range. The BLM plans to gather and remove about 2,000 excess animals to reduce the wild horse population to within a range of 427 to 788 animals, which is the appropriate carrying capacity for the complex based on the available water and forage in the area.

The Antelope Complex consists of the Antelope HMA, which is managed by the BLM Ely District, and the Antelope Valley, Goshute and Spruce-Pequop HMAs, which are managed by the Elko District.

Seven wild horses have died at the gather, some of which were gather-related and some nongather related.

The BLM will hold observation days on Thursday, Friday and Saturday for the duration of the gather to provide the media and public opportunities to view gather activities. Call the Wild Horse Gather Information Line at 775-753-0227 for a recorded message with information on daily gather activities and updated gather schedule. The scheduled observation days provide visitors an opportunity to interact with BLM staff and include escorted opportunities to observe the animals at the gather and holding corrals.

The gather is expected to continue through the end of February. Daily updates of the gather and photos are posted on the BLM website at www.blm.gov/nv.