A well-known United States animal lover has reportedly offered to take all 30,000 wild horses held by the Bureau of Land Management.

The Washington Post reports that Madeleine Pickens, wife of Texas billionaire T. Boone Pickens, made the offer, which was discussed at the BLM's Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board meeting yesterday.

The 30,000 horses held by the bureau threaten to overwhelm the annual budget allocated for the management of the wild horse and burro population.

The number in captivity is now just short of the 33,000 estimated to still roam free on the range.

The BLM has the power to euthanize horses that cannot be adopted, or sell them "without limitation", but has resisted doing so because of concerns over a possible public backlash.

Mrs Pickens is reportedly negotiating with the bureau over taking a majority of the captive horses and is said to be seeking land suitable for rehoming them.

It is understood another unnamed benefactor has offered to take 5000 horses.

The BLM has meanwhile deferred any move to immediately euthanize or sell horses without limitation.

The advisory board has voted that such actions would only be measures of last resort.

However, with rangeland populations doubling every four years if left unmanaged, the bureau will be concentrating efforts on finding longer-term solutions.

The BLM had considered euthanizing 2300 horses this financial year and selling 8000 without limitation - a move almost certain to see a majority go for slaughter.

The bureau was criticised in a recently released report from the Goverment Accountability Office which, while acknowledging the pressure from the public to continue to care for the horses, said the BLM was failing to comply with the law in refusing to pursue all management options available to it - euthanasia and sales without limitation.

It urged the bureau to takes its concerns to Congress in an effort to find a solution to the problem.