BRUNEAU, Idaho—The BLM is voluntarily closing the Bruneau Wild Horse Off-Range Corrals (ORC) to horses entering or leaving the facility due to an outbreak of an upper respiratory infection. Individual infected animals are being tested to confirm the diagnosis, but early signs indicate strangles, or equine distemper. Although horses usually 

recover without treatment, this disease is highly contagious, spreads from direct or indirect contact between horses and can lead to more serious complications in some horses.

 

The closure may delay the shipment of the wild horses gathered from three Wyoming Herd Management Areas—Adobe Town, Salt Wells Creek, and Great Divide Basin— to

BLM facilities and events nationwide to be placed into private care.

 

“The Bruneau ORC horses will be monitored closely by facility staff and an on-call veterinarian,” said Krystle Wengreen, Bruneau ORC manager.  “After all signs of infection

have passed, the closure will be lifted and horses may be transported out of the facility to event locations. The BLM takes the health of every wild horse seriously.”
 

For more information, contact the Bruneau Off-Range Corrals at (208) 329-4534. 
 

-BLM–

 

 

The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land located primarily in 12 Western states, including Alaska. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. The agency’s mission is to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of America’s public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations. Diverse activities authorized on these lands generated $75 billion in sales of goods and services throughout the American economy in fiscal year 2016—more than any other agency in the Department of the Interior. These activities supported more than 372,000 jobs.

Originally posted by the BLM Idaho