The Navajo Nation has canceled a planned wild horse hunt aimed at thinning a herd in an Arizona area after opponents of the hunt organized a protest against it.

The tribe’s Division of Natural Resources rescinded on Monday a proclamation declaring the 2018 feral horse management hunt designed to remove 60 horses from the Carrizo Mountains in northeastern Arizona, according to a notice on the Navajo Nation Department of Fish and Wildlife’s website.

Navajo Nation President Russell Begaye said in a statement that the hunt will be postponed and the proclamation was rescinded to allow for public input and education, the Farmington Daily Times reported .

There are more than 38,000 feral horses on Navajo Nation land, according to a 2016 study conducted by the Navajo Fish and Wildlife Department. Horse advocates, including members of the Facebook group Indigenous Horse Nation Protector Alliance, organized a rally for Friday in Window Rock, Arizona, to protest the hunt.

Gloria Tom, the director of Navajo Nation Department of Fish and Wildlife, said the public outcry led to the cancellation.

Navajo Nation Speaker LoRenzo Bates said in a statement that his office was not aware that the executive branch had made a decision to issue permits for hunting feral horses.

​“As Navajo people, we are taught to respect all life forms and that includes horses,” Bates said. “Considering the cultural and historical factors and concerns over water shortages and overgrazing — this is certainly an issue that should have been brought before Navajo leadership and medicine people to discuss and consider.”

If the hunt had not been rescinded, hunters accompanied by wildlife conservation officers would have been able to kill non-branded horses that were at least two years old. Hunters would have been prohibited from killing mares with foals.

The proclamation called for removing up to 60 horses over a six-day period.

Begaye urged Navajo chapters to pass resolutions to address feral horse management in their regions. Begaye said the division of natural resources will put in place a horse management strategy.

“Implementation of this plan is required to ensure a sustainable future while preserving the land and natural resources that sustain Navajo tradition and culture,” Begaye said.

Source: The Associated Press

Over 100 humane organizations dedicated to protecting and preserving our nation's wild horses and burros have united in support of a humane, sustainable management plan. This plan identifies alternatives to the approach of killing captive and free-roaming wild horses and burros. It includes:  

Creating a ten-year plan to reduce and stabilize wild horse populations while maintaining current prohibitions against killing, destruction, and sale for slaughter.
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• Repatriating geldings, PZP-treated mares and jennies from expensive short-term holding pens to "zeroed-out" habitats to reduce costs and improve quality of life for captive wild horses and burros
• Ensuring equitable allocation of resources between livestock and wild equines
• Engaging public-private partnerships in development of management approaches for individual herd management areas or regions to ensure genetically viable herds
• Creating public and/or private financial compensation or tax credits in exchange for grazing permit retirement, non-use, or reduced use in wild horse and burro habitats
• Continuing to research safe fertility control vaccines and management methods
• Developing apprenticeship positions within the BLM and the United States Forest Service (USFS)

Our Principles and Recommendations are consistent with the findings and recommendations from the National Academy of Sciences' 2013 report and other leading research organizations.  We recognize there is not an 'easy fix' and our recommendations cannot be considered in isolation, but believe by bringing together nonprofit organizations, government officials and agencies, including the BLM, the  USFS, and others, we can help implement a new way forward.