Wild horse and burro management in the American West involves contested welfare trade-offs between population control methods and individual animal welfare.
Wild horse management in the US presents a genuine welfare dilemma. Unmanaged herds can overgraze fragile ecosystems, leading to malnutrition and starvation. Yet roundup methods using helicopters to run horses to exhaustion cause injuries, social disruption, and high stress. Long-term holding in large feedlot-style facilities denies horses social complexity and behavioral expression. Immunocontraception programs that reduce herd growth without capture represent the most welfare-positive management approach currently available.