A severe lack of rain in the western part of the United States is threatening wild horses. The dry conditions have led several groups to use extreme methods to protect the animals. Volunteer groups in Arizona and Colorado are bringing thousands of liters of water and truckloads of food to hard-to-reach areas in their states. But the local water supplies, called springs, have run dry and plant life has disappeared. Volunteers say this is the first time they have ever had to bring water to these areas. Federal officials have begun efforts to quickly gather groups of horses in desert areas of Utah and Nevada. In May, more than 20 horses were found dead on the edge of a dried-up watering hole in northeastern Arizona. Simone Netherlands is the president of the Arizona-based Salt River Wild Horse Management Group. She told the Associated Press, “We’ve never seen it like this.”