These data are detections of burros in the Sinbad Herd Management Area in central Utah made during aerial thermal infrared-based distance sampling surveys in December 2015 and May 2016. Burros were detected from a fixed wing aircraft using an infrared camera mounted on the underside of the aircraft. A monitor screen was inside the aircraft, connected to the camera so the observer could look for burros in the monitor. Aircraft flew at 2,000 feet above ground level. These data were collected to estimate the population size of burros in the Sinbad Herd Management Area and to examine effectiveness between helicopter and aerial thermal infrared survey types. To assess performance of the different survey types, data analyses were conducted on both survey types and results were compared to known population size.