Nearly 60 Mustangs died after being moved from an open pasture to a corral facility last week, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) said.

Paul McGuire, BLM spokesman, said the agency was notified in March that the owner of the open pasture near El Dorado, Kansas, would not renew its contract. So, in June, 1,493 animals were moved from the pasture to a corral facility near Scott City, Kansas, McGuire said. In August, the corral facility's contractor notified the BLM that between June 22 and Aug. 5, a group of transferred mares had died, McGuire said; As of Aug. 15, 57 mares, ages 15 to 19 years, had died, he said.

“As of Aug. 11, the BLM ordered a team of experts out to Kansas to investigate,” McGuire said.

McGuire said the investigative team includes BLM personnel and a USDA veterinarian