2026 Roundup Costs: More Than $3.3 Million Contracted to Remove 6,235 Wild Horses
The 2026 roundup contracts listed to date total $3,337,110 for a planned capture goal of 6,235 wild horses and burros—an average contracted cost of $535.22 per animal.
Nine gathers are included in these figures: five marked complete, two ongoing, and two pending. The prices vary dramatically. Lahontan has the lowest listed unit cost at $371.26 per animal, while Saylor Creek is the highest at $921.70 per animal—nearly 2.5 times as much for each animal targeted.
The largest single contract is Callaghan: $765,121 to capture 2,000 animals. Meanwhile, the two ongoing contracts at Piceance and Bible Springs total $1,176,379 for 1,825 animals, and the two pending contracts at Confusion and Sand Wash Basin total $458,126 for 660 animals.
These are roundup contract dollars alone, calculated from the stated contract amounts and capture goals. They do not tell the full public cost of removals, including holding, transport, veterinary care, adoption incentives, and long-term warehousing of animals after capture.
Every dollar spent on helicopter roundups and removals deserves public scrutiny. Wild horses and burros are living beings—not line items. Before more families are chased, separated, and placed into an already overburdened system, the public deserves transparency, accountability, and management that prioritizes humane, on-range solutions.
$3.34 million. 6,235 lives targeted. The question is not only what these roundups cost—but what they cost the horses, the land, and the public trust.
