Genetic Vulnerability of the Jackson Mountains Wild Horse Herd: Sterilization and Inbreeding Concerns
The Jackson Mountains wild horse herd, managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in Nevada, is the subject of a controversial Herd Management Area Plan (HMAP). The plan proposes reducing the herd to an Appropriate Management Level (AML) of 130 to 217 horses and permanently sterilizing up to one-third of the mares at the low end of this AML. Wild horse advocates have strongly objected to this proposal, arguing that it compounds a pre-existing genetic vulnerability in the herd, potentially driving it toward a "functional extinction pathway." This report examines the genetic data from the Jackson Mountains herd, the broader scientific context of minimum viable populations, and the debate surrounding the proposed sterilization.
The 2012 Genetic Sampling and Heterozygosity Findings