Lake Pleasant HMA

Approximately 90 percent of the Lake Pleasant Herd Management Area's (HMA) wild burros are gray with the remaining 10 percent being black, brown, tan and red.  Some posses the shoulder cross characteristic of the ancestral Nubian and Somali wild asses and many have the leg stripes associated with the Nubian wild ass. The average height of an adult burro is 48 inches (12 hands), the average weight about 350 pounds. Wild burros are and may appear docile but should never be approached or fed.

Location: The Lake Pleasant Herd Management Area (HMA) is 25 miles northwest of Phoenix. It is west of Interstate 17 and north of State Route 74 and northeast of Lake Pleasant.

Size: The HMA is 103,000 acres in the Sonoran Desert

Topography/Vegetation: The area's rugged mountains, numerous small canyons and open rolling hills cut across the HMA landscape. The vegetation is typical of the upper Sonoran Desert, where paloverde and mixed cacti are common.

Wildlife: Wildlife species sharing the region with the wild burros include desert mule deer, javalina and mountain lions. Other animals found here are small mammals, songbirds, amphibians and reptiles.

AML:  166-208