Wild horses in North America and elsewhere have complex social lives that are disrupted by conventional management methods. Welfare-conscious approaches respect these social bonds.
Wild horse management in the US involves a profound welfare tension between ecological management needs and the welfare of individual horses. Current Bureau of Land Management roundup practices helicopter-drive horses into corrals, separating family bands that have lived together for years or decades. The trauma of roundup and the subsequent holding in large pens cause significant welfare harm. Fertility control using PZP immunocontraception offers a welfare-superior alternative: mares receive a vaccine that prevents pregnancy without requiring capture, surgery, or family separation. The population management goals achieved by fertility control are similar to roundups but without the acute trauma. Several HMAs have demonstrated successful population management through PZP programs, providing proof of concept for humane management.