Pryor Mountains Wild Horse Range
| Pryor Mountains Wild Horse Range | |
|---|---|
IUCN category IV (habitat/species management area) | |
| Location | Carbon County, Montana, and Big Horn County, Wyoming, United States |
| Nearest city | Billings, Montana |
| Coordinates | 45°03′12″N 108°19′21″W / 45.05333°N 108.32250°W |
| Area | 39,650 acres (160.5 km2) |
| Established | September 9, 1968 |
| Governing body | Bureau of Land Management |
| Website | Pryor Mountains Wild Horse Range |
The Pryor Mountains Wild Horse Range is a refuge for a historically significant herd of free-roaming mustangs, the Pryor Mountain mustang, feral horses colloquially called "wild horses", located in the Pryor Mountains of Montana and Wyoming in the United States. The range has an area of 39,650 acres (160.5 km2) and was established in 1968 along the Montana–Wyoming border as the first protected refuge dedicated exclusively for mustangs. It was the second feral horse refuge in the United States. About a quarter of the refuge lies within the Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area. A group of federal agencies, led by the Bureau of Land Management, administers the range.
Because of the unique genetic makeup of the Pryor Mountain mustang herd, equine geneticist Dr. E. Gus Cothran concluded in 1992 that "the Pryor herd may be the most significant wild-horse herd remaining in the United States." Dr. D. Phillip Sponenberg, equine veterinarian at Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine, agreed, noting, "[These animals] don't exist anywhere else."