Aerial surveys
BLM uses aerial survey methods and statistical analysis to estimate herd size. Surveys do not necessarily occur for every herd every year.
Population & management
How many horses are there?
Population figures for Nevada's federally managed wild horses are estimates, not exact head counts. Understanding those estimates also requires understanding Appropriate Management Levels, survey dates, reproduction, and removals.
Documented
BLM Nevada estimate
37,426Wild horses
Wild burros
5,146Estimated in Nevada
Maximum AML
12,811Horses and burros combined
BLM estimates as of March 1, 2026. Population figures are estimates and should not be interpreted as exact counts.
Appropriate Management Level
What AML means
Appropriate Management Level, or AML, is the population range BLM uses when managing wild horses and burros within a Herd Management Area.
BLM describes AML as the number of animals that can be sustained in balance with other public-land resources and uses.
AML is therefore a management benchmark rather than a prediction of the number of animals physically capable of surviving on a landscape.
View BLM program dataEstimation
Population numbers have uncertainty.
Projected growth
For herds not surveyed in a particular year, BLM may project population growth from an earlier estimate. This means year-to-year published estimates should not automatically be read as literal counts of births.
Growth
Horse populations can increase rapidly.
BLM states that wild horse herds without sufficient population controls can grow at rates approaching 20 percent annually under favorable conditions, potentially doubling within roughly four to five years.
Actual growth varies with fertility, mortality, drought, forage, water, predation, management actions, and other local conditions.
Do not confuse a projected rate with a measured birth rate.
Population estimates can incorporate survey uncertainty and projected growth between surveys.
Distribution
Nevada is not one herd.
Horses are distributed among many herd areas and Herd Management Areas. Population density, water availability, elevation, forage, drought, and management history differ substantially from one location to another.
A statewide total therefore does not describe conditions within any particular HMA.
Management
What happens when populations exceed management targets?
Monitoring
BLM conducts inventories and evaluates population estimates and rangeland conditions.
Fertility control
Fertility-control treatments may be used to slow future population growth where feasible.
Gathers and removals
BLM may gather and remove animals after determining that excess animals exist under the governing legal and planning framework.
Data date: March 1, 2026 路 Last reviewed: August 25, 2026