The U.S. Forest Service (USFS) said the three-day operation was the most efficient way to stop the undomesticated animals from destroying endangered species’ habitats and menacing hikers in the Gila Wilderness of southwest New Mexico.

Ranchers tried to block the cull in court, saying it was inhumane and could mistakenly kill privately owned cattle that had strayed after breaking through fences. An animal welfare group called for a roundup and New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham said the USFS failed to engage with locals over the issue.

The aerial shoot, the second in as many years, targeted an estimated 150 stray or unbranded cows but four sweeps over the Gila’s mountains and canyons found a fraction of that number, the USFS said.

“Ground-based and aerial removal efforts since October 2021 have substantially reduced the feral cattle population,” Camille Howes, Gila National Forest supervisor, said in a statement on Feb. 28.

Aerial hunting of feral hogs and predators like coyotes is a common practice in the American West but efforts to gun down undomesticated cattle have met protest.

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