The government’s habit of rounding up wild mustangs by helicopter is under fire after 11 wild horses die in grisly stampede – By Scott Sonner & The Associated Press (Fortune) / July 20, 2023
Nearly a dozen wild horses have died in the first 10 days of a big mustang roundup in Nevada, deaths that a Las Vegas congresswoman is calling tragic proof of the urgent need to outlaw helicopters to capture the animals on federal land.
The 11 deaths so far include five young foals, four horses with broken necks and a stallion with a snapped rear leg that was chased by a helicopter and horseback rider as it tried to flee on three legs for 35 minutes before it was euthanized, according to witnesses.
The horse that broke the leg jumping over a trap fence last Wednesday was a lead Palomino stallion called “Mr. Sunshine” by those who’d watched him roam wild over the years southeast of Elko.
A longtime observer and defender of the mustangs caught the animal’s struggle on video.
