By MARTIN GRIFFITH , Associated Press

Last update: May 28, 2010 – 8:21 PM

RENO, Nev. – A Nevada district attorney is considering whether to file criminal charges against federal land managers who are accused by animal rights activists of mistreating wild horses in a roundup.

Churchill County Sheriff Richard Ingram said his department began an investigation May 20 after an activist filed a complaint alleging that mustangs were abused and neglected at a holding facility.

U.S. Bureau of Land Management officials confirmed that 83 of some 1,900 horses brought there in a government roundup have died. More