The U.S. Forest Service is investigating the killings of nine wild horses found fatally shot in an Arizona national forest.
The horses present in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest “showed evidence of bullet wounds, indicating they were shot,” the agency said in a news release issued Thursday, January 29.
The animals’ bodies were positioned within the Black Mesa Ranger District throughout the park, which is positioned in east-central Arizona and spans greater than 2 million acres.
A $5,000 reward is being offered for any suggestions that can result in the arrest and conviction of a suspect involved within the killings, in keeping with the U.S. Forest Service.
It’s unclear when the animals were shot and what led to the killings, because the agency didn’t specify a possible motive.
“Necropsies were accomplished and the carcasses were buried,” the U.S. Forest Service said.
This shouldn’t be the primary time horses have been killed within the forest, in keeping with the agency, The Arizona Republic reported.
Over a span of eight months in 2019, 11 wild horses were fatally shot within the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests, in keeping with the newspaper.
The Salt River Wild Horse Management Group, a non-profit organization based in Fort McDowell, Arizona, is asking for an independent investigation into the recent shootings as federal authorities work with local law enforcement to analyze.
“For years, wild horses on this region have been found shot, with incidents occurring with concerning regularity,” the group said in a January 30 news release. “Despite multiple Forest Service and Navajo County Investigations, these cases haven’t resulted in public accountability, information or arrests.”
The non-profit wants independent necropsies of the deceased horses, with the outcomes made public.
In line with the organization “past investigative efforts have relied totally on limited field necropsies performed on only a couple of of the horses, after which all shot horses were buried the very next day, as appears to be the case in these January twenty ninth shootings as well.”
“SRWHMG believes this approach has significantly limited the flexibility to find out cause, patterns, and responsibility.”
In 2023, the wild horse population within the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest was reported to be quickly increasing, in keeping with the White Mountain Independent. There have been about 600 horses within the herd.
On the time, forest officials rounded up and relocated 215 horses in reference to the herd’s reported impact on threatened local species, the news outlet reported.
Wild horses are protected under federal law, specifically the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971, which makes it illegal to harm or kill them.
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“Congress finds and declares that wild free-roaming horses and burros reside symbols of the historic and pioneer spirit of the West; that they contribute to the range of life forms throughout the Nation and enrich the lives of the American people; and that these horses and burros are fast disappearing from the American scene,” the law states.
It’s a criminal offense to capture, brand, harass and kill free-roaming horses, in keeping with the statute.
The U.S. Forest Service asks anyone with information related to the recent killings to call the Navajo County Sheriff’s Office tipline at (928) 524-9908.