Another 55 Wild Mustangs were gathered Wednesday from Devil’s Garden Plateau in Modoc County for a total of 585 horses, bringing the Forest Service past the halfway point to their goal of a thousand horses. Helicopters are being used to frighten the wild horses into corrals. A number of horses have been put down due to what officials call pre-existing conditions, and a few have been killed as a result of injuries sustained during the round-up. Officials estimate the range can only sustain around 400 horses at a healthy level, but an estimated 4000 horses are living there. After a thousand horses are gathered, there will be a 60 day period for open adoption of 300 of the horses, with the other 700 going to the BLM. Un-adopted horses will be offered for limited sale, meaning they must go to good homes. What happens after that 60 days will be the non-limited sale of the remaining horses for as little as One Dollar each. Opponents of the practice fear that they’ll be sold to foreign buyers to be slaughtered for human consumption. The Forest Service says the land, the Sage Grouse and the Fairy Shrimp can’t take the abuse by the overpopulation and good homes are desperately needed for the hundreds of wild horses.