WPM successfully merges science and stewardship to safeguard wild horses and bison.
Wildlife Protection Management, WPM, founded by Roch Hart, is a startup company in Albuquerque, New Mexico that is engaging in beta testing the WPM product on the 22,000 acre ranch he manages. With wild horses living on the ranch Mr. Hart faced, first hand, the need to safeguard and maintain the number of horses living on the property. The result is a science and technology based system for contraceptive delivery, identification, disease monitoring and vaccine care for the horses that can be operated at the ranch or anywhere in the world with the use of solar energy and satellites. The RFID (radio frequency identification) component can track and pinpoint a horse’s exact location using their computerized system. The company is currently readying it’s GTM, go to market, units for upcoming marketing and sales.
The wildlife management system has science behind it. Throughout the process of developing the product, from recognition of the need, building the team, design and construction of the devices to field testing and preparing for production, WPM has sought science in moving forward. Mr. Hart is extremely appreciative of the support he continues to receive from New Mexico State University, the New Mexico Small Business Assistance program, the University of New Mexico and Ralph Zimmerman, DVM, Office of the State Veterinarian, New Mexico Livestock Board who stated in a testimonial “WPM’s Remote Wildlife Management System has the potential to dramatically improve population management of wild and feral horses through a more effective, safe vaccination program and by eliminating the stress and expense of helicopters and roundups.”
In April, Wildlife Protection Management was selected from a pool of applicants from India, all of Europe and the United States to participate in the 2021 Global Scaling Challenge as one of seven start up companies that would be included in the challenge. WPM was presented by the Anderson School of Management UNM in the student team global scaling competition. The 2021 theme was Biological Based Problems Facing the 21st Century.
As additional wild horse removals are announced for the 2021 roundup season, the advocacy community continues to call on lawmakers to find other means of caring for the herds of burros and horses that do not involve roundups and permanent sterilization. A video is included at the conclusion of this article showing the tech solution to roundups.
In looking forward, Mr. Hart foresees the potential need to remove feral cows from public and private land and states “WPM is prepared to handle it”.
On April 26th the National Park Service (NPS) issued a News Release seeking skilled volunteers to assist with the upcoming removal of bison on the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park in the fall of 2021. One of the requirements volunteers were required to meet was to be available for the entirety of one of the assigned lethal removal operational periods. Because this removal involves lethal removals of the animals, individuals and organizations across the country are calling on the NPS to instead use alternative methods for these animals accustomed to human presence in their environment.
When asked about the ability of Wildlife Protection Management to help maintain wildlife populations to prevent bison culls like this from happening, Roch Hart, CEO, commented “If it is horses, bison or deer, making a vaccine is fine, but getting it to them is just as important. Our system gets it to them. It is just a matter of adapting our system to the species. In remote areas humans create a stress on wildlife making it difficult, if not impossible, to deliver vaccines for contraceptives or disease control. The other side of that equation is knowing which animal has received a vaccine. Our system can safely implant a RFID microchip allowing us not only to make a unique identification but continue to monitor that unique animal including reading its body temperature.”
Roch Hart is available to discuss the product with businesses and organizations interested in their system for humane wildlife care.