Bruce

Bruce lost his family and freedom along with more than 1100 Wild Burros when they were rounded up and captured by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The roundup occurred between January 8 and 24, 2024, in the Black Mountain Herd Management Area (HMA) of Arizona. This is the largest HMA in that state, spanning 1.1 million acres across public, state, tribal, and private lands. Bruce was captured on January 14 and gelded on July 2 by the BLM that same year. The Cattoor Livestock Roundup Company, contracted by the BLM, used “helicopter drive trapping” to capture the Wild Burros over those 17 days. Wild Horse Education (WHE), one of the organizations that had witnesses at the 2024 Black Mountain roundup, published this observation: “WHE is particularly concerned about ‘capture stress’ as Burros are more susceptible and past roundups have shown high mortality rates after capture. Burros are not horses. That statement applies not only to the outdated way Burros are managed on range (using modeling for horses), but it also applies to capture and how they are fed and handled post-capture.”

Bruce arrived at our sanctuary with three other Wild Burros on June 13th, 2025. He is the largest of the four geldings. According to the BLM, Bruce was born in 2017. As we do not know the exact day the burros were born, we will celebrate their Re-Birth-Days on their arrival date.

Bruce is proudly sponsored by supporters from Bergenfield, New Jersey; Earlton, New York; Ithaca, New York and Mount Airy, North Carolina.

More Sponsors Welcome!

Photo credit: Alex Valverde