Wild burros are amazing animals who play important roles in the desert ecosystems they inhabit. However, the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) entire approach to managing wild burros is colored by the belief that they are invasive and therefore destructive. This unscientific bias obscures the environmental benefits of wild burros and drives the BLM’s policy of maintaining unnaturally low population levels through large-scale roundups and removals from the range.
Science, however, is painting a different picture of wild burros as ecosystem engineers contributing to the biodiversity of plant and animal life. Our team recently spoke with leading burro researcher and internationally recognized ecologist Erick Lundgren to discuss the findings from his studies of wild burros in the American Southwest.
We must protect wild burros with humane conservation solutions, not cruel helicopter roundups. Sadly, over 1,000 of these amazing animals are scheduled to be removed from their homes on the range in BLM roundups over the next five months.
