DALLAS – The wife of Texas billionaire T. Boone Pickens wants to create a refuge for wild horses that might have been in danger of being euthanized.
About 33,000 wild horses roam the open range in 10 Western states, half of those in Nevada. In order to protect the herd, the range and other foraging animals, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management wants to have about 27,000 horses in the wild. So those too old or considered unadoptable are sent to long-term holding facilities.
Madeleine Pickens said Tuesday she has proposed purchasing around 1 million acres to serve as a refuge for the horses being kept in pens.
Animals brought to the refuge will be sterilized and she will be able to take the extra horses the BLM takes out of the wild each year as well.
BLM spokesman Tom Gorey says the agency welcomes the offer. He says the costs of keeping animals in the holdings pens has caused them to consider euthanasia.
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