BLM seeks population control proposals

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The Bureau of Land Management is accepting research proposals that investigate new or improve existing methods of controlling the population growth of wild horses and burros that roam public lands.

Nonprofit organizations, universities, state governments, pharmaceutical companies, and others are being asked to develop innovative techniques and protocols for contraception or spaying/neutering of male and female wild horses and burros by means of surgical, chemical, pharmaceutical, or other techniques.

The application deadline is May 7. The link to the solicitation can be found here; the funding opportunity number is L14AS00048.

Last year, a National Academy of Sciences’ National Research Council committee looked at issues such as population modeling, annual rates of population growth, and fertility control methods by the BLM.

Among other things, the committee found that most free-roaming horse herds on public rangelands in the western U.S. are growing at rates of 15 to 20 percent per year, facilitated by BLM management practices.

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