Arizona wild burros relocated to combat overpopulation, how you can adopt one

LAKE HAVASU, AZ (AZFamily)—According to American Wild Horse Conservation, Arizona is home to the largest number of wild burros.

More than 150 years ago, burros were brought to western Arizona to help with mining operations.

Now, they can be found just outside of cities like Lake Havasu and Oatman.

However, Jason VanBuskirk, Bureau of Land Management Public Affairs Specialist, said they’ve become overpopulated so the BLM is working to transport them for their own safety and the public.

“We want to make sure that we are dealing with the animals as though they are wild animals. We should enjoy them in their habitat,” VanBuskirk said.

Wild burros attract a lot of attention, but VanBuskirk said when the population is overblown, it can also impact the ecosystem.

Plus, they can be a hazard on the road. Last month, one of the animals was involved in a deadly accident on State Route 95.

“When they eat a certain number of species of plants then we know that they’re harming other species that are indigenous,” VanBuskirk said. “Also, we recently had some motor collisions and some interactions with folks that haven’t been good for either.”

The BLM is removing about 100 burros from the area north of Lake Havasu over the next 10 years. VanBuskirk said they’ve already captured 90 and relocated about 75.

“Ours are bait and water traps,” VanBuskirk said. “So we set up areas where we begin to feed and water them and then when they get comfortable then we build a corral around that area. They continue to come in but there’s no out for them.”

Once captured, they’ll be moved at night and taken more than 200 miles away to Florence the Wild Horse and Burro Training and Off-range Corral, where people can then adopt them.

“They are trained and adopted out,” VanBuskirk said. “I have come to discover that we’re in the high 99% adoption rate like almost 100 like so close we could almost call it 100%.”

VanBuskirk said they want to protect the animals, but that starts with the public keeping a distance.

“They’re they’re awesome to look at,” VanBuskirk said. “But feeding them, petting them, otherwise socializing and getting them used to humans is not healthy for them or us.”

You can learn more about the BLM’s project here.

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