The gathering of wild horse herds by federal agencies is one of the more controversial issues in the West. That is now complicated by a mysterious illness that has led to the death of 67 wild horses in captivity in Colorado.

Get our free mobile app

CBS 4 out of Denver shared the story of the mysterious wild horse deaths from two different herds being kept at the Cañon City Wild Horse and Burro Facility.

The comments on the YouTube share are a great example of how divisive this issue is. While many want the federal government to let the horses go, others claim these are not true wild horses, but feral ones that the land can't sustain. That last position seems to be the position of the Bureau of Land Management who believe the wild horse population is much too large to survive in that part of Colorado especially.

If you look at the Bureau of Land Management website, it mentions how they protect wild horses and burros on public rangelands and some of these horses are available for adoption. They say that to "encourage more adopters to give a wild horse or burro a good home, the Adoption Incentive Program provides up to $1,000 to adopt an untrained wild horse or burro from the BLM".

As for what is killing the wild horses in captivity in Colorado, that remains a mystery that will hopefully be solved soon for the animal's sake.

See Inside a Real Bunkhouse Airbnb Near Wheatland, Wyoming

Cheyenne AIRBNB Already Has Astronomical Price For Cheyenne Frontier Days

More From 101.9 KING-FM