The Bureau of Land Management held a two-day wild horse and burro adoption event at the Doña Ana County Fairgrounds in Las Cruces, featuring 80 animals available for adoption. Potential adopters like Bernie Soto from El Paso attended the event in hopes of finding a wild horse or burro to take home.

Crystal Cowan, an event coordinator with the BLM, outlined the qualifications needed to adopt a wild horse or burro, including having a suitable corral and trailer. The animals up for adoption at the event came from the ten western states and were once free-roaming on public lands before being removed by the BLM to maintain healthy herds and protect rangeland resources.

At the end of the two-day event, 68 out of 74 wild horses and burros found homes with private adopters. The animals that were not adopted were taken back to holding corrals in Oklahoma. The next BLM wild horse and burro event in New Mexico will be in Albuquerque at the end of August.