Wild horses dying near Nevada test range, contaminated water suspected

Above: There are an estimated twenty-five thousand wild horses and burros in Nevada.

At least 55 wild horses have been found dead in recent days near a pond on the Air Force’s Nevada Test and Training Range, and more are dying every day.

The cause of the deaths is unknown, but Bureau of Land Management spokeswoman Hillary Patton said a contaminated water source is the main suspect.

The training range, about 210 to 250 miles northwest of Las Vegas, is home to a couple thousand wild horses, Patton said. At least a few hundred horses live near the suspect water source.

BLM, which is in charge of managing wild horses on public land, has placed water troughs in the area and began a thorough assessment Wednesday to determine the precise number of horses that have died so far.

The bureau has collected water and horse tissue sample to determine the cause of the deaths, but Patton said results won’t be available until the end of the week.

Read the rest at Air Force Times