Save the Mustangs

Mustang automaker to help wild mustangs

DETROIT, June 5 (UPI) -- The automaker of the Mustang sports car will help save some 2,000 wild mustangs in the western United States.

The Ford Motor Co. is working with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management as well as Take Pride in America, a government-sponsored volunteer program, to establish a fund so the public can contribute financial support in the wild mustang effort, CNN/Money reported.

"This new partnership is an example of how the public sector and private industry can work together to help provide for long-term care of these animals, while sustaining the health and productivity of America's public lands," Interior Secretary Gale Norton said in the statement.

The Ford Mustang takes its inspiration from the wild mustang, "a true icon of American freedom," according to Ford Chairman Bill Ford.

Nearly 32,000 wild horses and burros roam public lands in 10 states. The wild animals have virtually no natural predators, and their herd sizes can double about every five years, so mustang adoption programs have been established.