Wild horses and burros on US public lands are managed under the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act, creating complex welfare and ecological challenges that remain deeply contested.
Wild horse welfare involves both free-roaming animals and the large captive population in BLM holding facilities. Roundup operations cause acute fear and stress as helicopters drive horses at speed over long distances. Foal injuries, family group separation, and deaths during gathers represent significant welfare harms. Long-term holding in large feedlot-style pens lacks the social complexity and movement of wild life. Fertility control using PZP contraceptive vaccine is a less traumatic alternative supported by welfare advocates but requires repeated treatments and field access. Adoption programs face welfare risks as some adopted horses have entered the slaughter pipeline. Better funding for humane fertility control and high-welfare adoption monitoring would improve outcomes.