A new study from the Arizona Game and Fish Department has found feral burros are harming wildlife in the Sonoran Desert.
Biologists researched areas around Lake Havasu and Lake Pleasant with similar vegetation and burro herds.
Researchers found 30% less ground cover from foliage where burros were present. Palo verde trees, ironwood trees and saguaro cactuses had the most significant damage.
The Bureau of Land Management says the appropriate number is about 14,000 burros in herd management areas, but it’s estimated there are about 10,000 in the state’s management areas.
Game and Fish biologists say 300 species rely on the foliage that is being damaged by the burros, which are not native to Arizona.
More Arizona animal news
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The California condor is the largest flying bird in North America and has been protected as an endangered species since the 1960s. And later this month, four of the birds of prey will be released into the wild later this month near the Arizona-Utah border. -
Researchers from the University of Arizona have created a new tool to learn more about how communication between owners and their pets relates to their well-being. -
The Department of Interior rolled back habitat protection rules in the Endangered Species Act in July. Arizona and about 20 other states say in new legal filings that the Trump administration acted illegally. -
Conservationists argue there are only a little more than 300 Mexican gray wolves, and they continue to need protection. -
The letter comes after an August roundup in northwest Colorado, where the BLM gathered 894 wild horses. Nine died in the operation.
