America's wild horse populations require active management to prevent overgrazing, but the methods used — including helicopter roundups and holding facilities — raise significant welfare concerns.
Wild horses are highly social animals whose family band structure is central to their wellbeing. Helicopter roundups rupture these bonds, cause exhaustion and panic, and occasionally result in injuries and deaths. Horses in long-term holding lack the movement and social complexity of range life. Mares may be separated from foals. Fertility control programs using PZP vaccine are effective, non-invasive, and reversible — but have been adopted at far smaller scale than roundups due to cost and logistical challenges.