March 28th, 2001

Wild horse count planned after reported numbers drop

Jeff DeLong
Reno Gazette-Journal

Wildlife advocates said they are concerned that the number of wild horses counted across the Virginia Range has dropped by more than 200 and hope an aerial survey planned Monday will help solve the mystery.

State officials insist there’s probably nothing to worry about, suggesting the horses were likely missed during the latest count conducted by helicopter last August.

“We feel we’re missing horses. They refuse to acknowledge it”

Six hundred eighty-six horses were spotted roaming the rugged mountainsides east of Reno and Carson City, as compared to more than 900 spied in June 1999, said Don Henderson, assistant director for the state Department of Agriculture.

Henderson is confident no one is removing wild horses from the range.

“We’re keeping a close eye out to make sure nothing is happening to those horses, and to our knowledge nothing is,” he said.

Olivia Fiamengo, president of the Virginia Range
Wildlife Protection Association, a nonprofit group formed to help the area’s wild horse population, said she isn’t so sure state officials are right. While she agrees a small number might be missed during aerial counting, the apparent drop since 1999 in her opinion is too large to explain so easily.

“Where did all those horses go?” Fiamengo asked. “We feel we’re missing horses. They refuse to acknowledge it.”