1,000 wild Arizona burros are going to be relocated. Here's why

Bureau of Land Management announced on Dec. 20 that it plans to gather and relocate 1,000 wild burros near Kingman due to overpopulation concerns.

The burros lived in the Black Mountain Herd Management Area in Mohave County, and the herd grew to three times the appropriate size, according to a news release from the Bureau of Land Management.

Here's what to know about the wild burros and their relocation.

Where are the burros in Mohave County?

An estimated 1,925 burros made up the free-roaming group in central Mohave County, 15 miles west of Kingman in far northeastern Arizona.

The herd lived on the Black Mountain Herd Management Area land that spanned over 1.1 million acres — the largest federal land of its kind in the state — and consisted of desert shrubbery.

The burros were part of the population that the federal agency manages, protects, and controls under the 1971 Wild-Free Roaming Horses and Burros Act.

The town of Oatman, famous for roaming burros that claimed Route 66 roadways as their own, is south of Kingman and right in the middle of the Black Mountain Herd area.

Why are the burros being removed from their home?

The Bureau of Land Management said the population of nearly 2,000 burros was three times the appropriate population of a herd, which should be about 478 for proper management.

“Wild burros essentially have no natural predators, resulting in a rapid increase in population,” said Amanda Dodson, Bureau of Land Management Kingman field manager.

Dodson said the herds can double in size every five years if not properly managed.

The burro herd's overpopulation created health concerns for the animals, left a heavier toll on wildlife and was a danger to drivers.

Mohave County communities voiced safety concerns about the burros on local roadways and the damage to private property. They requested the Bureau address the overpopulation.

How will the burros be relocated?

The Bureau of Land Management planned to take up to eight weeks to gather the burros utilizing humane methods that are required to adhere to an animal welfare program.

The burros would be rounded into necessary trap sites using a "helicopter-assisted method," which the Bureau said was used to safely direct the animals without the need to have crews on the ground directing the herd.

The gathered burros would then be safely transported to the agency's wild horse and burro facilities in Florence and Ridgecrest, California.

Any burros gathered that were found to be fertile females, known as jennies, would be treated with the vaccine Procine Zona Pellucida before they would be returned to the site near the animal's capture. The vaccine acts as a means of wild horse and burro birth control.

This included first-time doses of the vaccine for eligible jennies along with a booster dose for the initial control group for the fertility management method.

All the other gathered burros would be available for sale or adoption through the agency's program, according to Dobson.

In 2023, the Bureau of Land Management placed 8,045 wild horses and burros into private care, while treating 720 jennies with fertility control treatment. The entire 2023 relocation and PZP treatment cost $157.8 million.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Wild Arizona burros to be relocated because of overpopulation