Fertility Control Program Gallops Ahead

On April 9, the Nevada Department of Agriculture and the American Wild Horse Campaign signed a Cooperative Agreement to resume the fertility control darting program and the community darting team sprang into action! In less than 2 months, over 200 horses have been darted and over 3,000 horses (2,400 living) are now individually identified in the database! Huge gratitude and thanks to Blockchains LLC, Assembly Minority Leader Jim Wheeler and Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak for getting this program going again, and to the incredible volunteers who are showing how it's done on the Virginia Range!

Recap

• 8 new darters have been trained through a Science and Conservation Center certification class sponsored by AWHC and hosted by Block-chains LLC on April 23-25.

• 15 experienced darters are now deployed in the field with daily presence at Innovation Park and other areas of the range.

• 5 new documenters have been recruited, and will receive training in June.

• Hundreds of volunteer hours spent in the field darting and documenting horses.

• Field training completed for the new darters and documenters.

• Additional equipment and vaccine was ordered and distributed to adequately supply the program through the darting season.

• Permission to dart has been obtained from numerous private property owners in the Virginia Highlands. Confirmation was also received from the BLM that the agency will allow darting to occur on BLM-managed lands throughout the Virginia Range, pursuant to authorization from the NDA.