Round-Ups

In June of 2005, a wildfire in the Mojave National Preserve destroyed 70,000 acres and burned out several homes. The National Park Service (NPS) requested and received $84,500.00 in federal funds for burro removal from the burn area. They scheduled a roundup of all burros in the area and, over a period of about ten days in September, helicopters were used to catch 40+ burros, none of which came from the burn area.

When I got the call that they were holding burros at Kessler Springs Ranch, which had been turned into a Ranger Facility, I called BLM to see why we were not informed they would be gathering burros. It was not a BLM operation, so no one except Park Rangers and wranglers hired by NPS was over-seeing the roundup to make sure animals were safe. The burros that were captured were kept behind locked gates with big NO TRESPASSING SIGNS.

One day during the roundup, the wranglers located a beautiful large Jack (i.e. a male burro). They began chasing him until they literally ran him to collapse. One of the wranglers said, “Oh he has had a heart attack and died” so he started jumping up and down on the Jack’s abdomen. He would pick his head up by his ears and slam the head into the ground. The burro was exhausted he had no way to fight back. He was not dead when they left him. He was bleeding from the nose and the mouth. Chances are when the so-called “cowboy” jumped up and down on the Jack’s abdomen it probably crushed ribs, which punctured lungs. He may have even crushed the skull.

The wranglers asked a film crew present at the scene if they would use this film against them; the crew said they were no longer filming but cameras kept rolling. They sent me still shots of the Jack over what looks to be a 12-14 hour period. He died a terrible, slow, lonely death. They would have been more humane by shooting him to put an end to his suffering, but they did not even give him that much respect or dignity.

Several witnesses also observed the NPS crew loading burros into a trailer, how each burro was restrained with ropes and two “cowboys” had ropes around the burro’s neck and go at a full out run on their horses and flipped the burro right into the trailer and dragged them until they could drag them no more. Every time I have to repeat the story all I see is torture and death, severe animal cruelty.

BLM took possession of the herd that was captured and they are now being held as we look for land to put them on, until we can release them safely back to freedom where they belong. There were 41 delivered to Ridgecrest California in pretty bad shape. We lost 3 Jennies over the first few weeks. We are hoping that we can get the Herd Area opened back up at Clark Mountain. I am trying to keep faith that, one way or another, NPS will leave this herd alone.

That dead burro did not stand a chance and there are more out there that won’t either unless we all find a new approach to this overwhelming problem with out-of-control governmental agencies. Please let us not let the few remaining true signs of Freedom and our Living Breathing Western Heritage disappear in this shameful manner.

-Jennifer & Ken Foster
Public Lands For Public Use, pl4pu2@verizon.net

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