Current estimates suggest more than 70,000 wild horses and burros roam the American west. That's more than three times the number land managers say can safely co-exist with other animals on the open range.

In recent years, the Federal Bureau of Land Management has stepped up efforts to move most of those animals off public land, but where do those horses go, and why are advocates concerned that these iconic symbols of the American west are still being slaughtered?

Nevada Public Radio's Paul Boger reports for the Mountain West News Bureau.