An Overview of The International Society for the Protection of Mustangs and Burros

Today, wild horses need protection and the intervention of human help to live and survive. People are encroaching on lands for their use and for raising livestock. Due to this trend, the number of wild horses is dwindling. For example, take the case of mustangs. Its population dropped from nearly 2 million in 1900 to about 17,300 in 1971 – the same year Congress in the USA passed an Act for protecting mustangs. Due to this Act, about 30,000 mustangs are roaming on public land in the USA today.

In the USA, there is a myth that there are too many wild horses and burros that are roaming on public lands, and it is the need of the hour to reduce their numbers. From the above, it is evident that the opposite of this myth is true. The numbers of wild horses and burros are falling, and it is here that major organizations in wildlife conservation need to come forward to protect and keep them safe.

The International Society for the Protection of Mustangs and Burros, or ISPMB, is dedicated to the sole mission of protecting wild horses and burros. It is the USA’s oldest organization committed to the security and safety of wild horses and burros.

It has been around for the past 61 years. It has been instrumental in bringing in some monumental accomplishments when it comes to the adoption and conservation programs for wild horses and burros. Its first President, named Wild Horse Annie, successfully moved the Congress in 1971 to provide protection to all burros and wild horses on public land with the Wild Horses and Burros Act in the USA.

A mission to protect

A majority of the protection programs for burros and wild horses on public lands have been designed and developed by the ISPMB for the governmental agency, Bureau of Land Management, or BLM responsible for executing the above Act’s provisions. The adoption program above has successfully placed over 200,000 wild horses and burros into caring adoptive homes.

The US Bureau of Land Management today controls the number of mustangs by frequently acquiring a specific number of them and offering them up for adoption. However, there are still many mustangs that stay in corrals for years without finding a loving home.

How are wild horses and burros valuable for the environment?

Wild horses and burros are just like any valuable wildlife species. They have an impact and are important to the environment; however, due to their natural behaviors, this influence is quite negligible. They play an ecological role that is beneficial to the environment; for instance, they disperse seeds via elimination, thereby helping the environment to reseed its landscape.

They need to be kept safe and protected on public lands, and this is why major organizations are stepping forward to ensure they are safe and conserved well under adoption programs designed for their well-being.

Thanks to the philosophy and the cooperation of ISPMB with multiple diverse groups, the conservation of burros and wild horses in the West’s volatile areas has successfully moved forward at a good pace.