U.S. Ranchers Could Be Sentencing Wild Horses to Death

Alarm bells went off after the Forest Service began rounding up 1,000 wild horses from public lands in California this week. The Bureau of Land Management leases out a lot of America’s public lands to cattle ranchers. Grazing rates are significantly cheaper on public land. The difference is $1.41 a head on public land versus more than $20 on private land. An excess wild horse population makes it harder for cattle to graze.

So what does all this mean for the future of America’s wild horses? While slaughtering horses for consumption is illegal in the U.S., captured horses could very easily end up at slaughterhouses in Mexico or Canada. With this approach to population management, ranchers could be sentencing these horses to death.

1. ❌ 300 different mammal species have gone extinct because of human activity. Many scientists believe the sixth mass extinction of life on Earth has already begun. “We are doing something that will last millions of years beyond us,” said a leading researcher. “We’re entering what could be an extinction on the scale of what killed the dinosaurs.” [Guardian]
2. 👀 90% of emissions from the world’s biggest food trader Cargill are made by animals before they are slaughtered, like feed and methane production. It just so happens that the company did not include pre-slaughter numbers in their most recent emission estimates. [Huffington Post]
3. 😰 An Idaho statesman just posted photos of his dead animal trophies from a hunting trip in Namibia—and probably wishes he hadn’t after receiving calls for his resignation. He and his wife reportedly killed 14 wild animals, including a giraffe, leopard, and family of baboons. [The Hill]
4. 🎬 The world’s first vegan film festival premiered over the weekend. And the award for best film goes to… 73 Cows! The 15-minute documentary tells the story of the first farmer in the UK to trade beef farming for vegan farming by giving custody of his 73 cows to a farm sanctuary. [LIVEKINDLY]
5. ☔️ Will changes to the climate affect how much it rains in your neck of the woods? (Yes, totally) [The Revelator]