Animal advocates have asked a federal court judge to halt a Bureau of Land Management (BLM) plan to remove about 2,700 mustangs from a range in northwest Nevada on grounds that the gather violates federal law.

On Wednesday, a lawyer for the animal welfare group In Defense of Animals and Nevada ecologist Craig Downer argued that the gather violates the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971 because it endangers the lives of the animals. The Act protects mustangs and burros from harassment, capture, or death, and places the animals' management under BLM jurisdiction.

The BLM plans to begin relocating animals from the Calico Complex Herd Management Area to long-term holding facilities on Dec. 28. The gather is necessary to reduce the herd to a size range resources can support, said BLM Spokesman Tom Gorey.