The United States Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is considering putting down some of the wild horses it musters off rangeland because of rapidly increasing costs.
"Right now, the cost of keeping these animals in holding facilities is spiraling out of control," a spokesperson said.
Those costs were preventing the agency from successfully managing other parts of the National Wild Horse and Burro Programme.
News of the policy re-think comes just days after the BLM in Nevada announced plans to muster 1700 horses because of water shortages and concerns over a lack of forage brought on by a prolonged drought.
Proposals under consideration include euthanizing burros and horses for which no adoption demand exists and selling older and other unadopted animals "without limitations" to any willing parties - a move which appears certain to open the door to kill buyers.
The BLM said it faced "a number of difficult challenges" in running its programme.
"Wild horses and burros in the West have virtually no natural predators and their herd sizes can double about every four years," the bureau said in a statement.
"As a result, the agency must remove thousands of animals from Western public rangelands each year to ensure that herd sizes are consistent with the land's capacity to support them."
There are estimated to be about 32,000 horses roaming the rangelands of the western states - half of them in Nevada. Numbers are about 5000 more than what the BLM considers ideal.
At present, there are currently more than 30,000 wild horses and burros that are fed and cared for at short-term and long-term holding facilities. It was essential, it said, to keep the BLM's wild horse and burro programme in balance.
"This fiscal year, holding costs will exceed $US26 million - more than three-fourths of the BLM's congressional appropriation of about $US37m for this programme.
Rising energy prices have also increased costs. "In one year alone, energy costs for transportation and feed have increased almost $US4m.
"It is clear the agency cannot continue current removal and holding practices under existing and projected budgets. Neither can the BLM allow horses to multiply unchecked on the range without causing an environmental disaster."
"That's why the BLM is exploring options to exercise its legal authority to (1) sell older and certain other unadopted animals "without limitation" to any willing buyers and (2) euthanize those wild horses and burros for which no adoption demand exists.
"We know this is not a popular option, but we are at a critical point where we must consider using the legal authorities allowed us.
The BLM said its goal was to manage healthy, free-roaming herds on healthy rangelands. "However, it is becoming increasingly difficult to do so."
The BLM manages more land – 258 million surface acres – than any other federal agency. Most of this public land is located in 12 Western States. It has an annual budget of $US1 billion.
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