Wild horses compete with deer, antelope, and other wildlife. They also compete with cattle, the principal occupant of the western ranges. It is sometimes difficult to manage the invasive species that we’ve introduced over the past 600 years. It is especially difficult when we eliminate potential predators. As things stand, it is impossible to say whether wild horses might merge with native animals/ecosystems if we removed the cattle and allowed wolves and lions to return. I for one would really like to try it.
Sunday, 27 December 2015
Written by
Sonia Luokkala
By Sonia Luokkala, Earth Island Journall
Chief, a Kiger mustang born in the remote wilderness of Utah, lives with 400 other rescued wild horses and burros in a 1,500 acre sanctuary, hundreds of miles from his original home. Years ago the stallion was captured in a round up led by the Bureau of Land Management. After a long helicopter chase, he ended up in a government-run holding facility for years before being adopted by Return to Freedom Wild Horse Sanctuary in Lompoc, CA. Not all horses rounded up by the BLM are as lucky.
Over the past four decades the BLM has eradicated or moved to holding facilities more than 70 percent of the country’s wild horse population. (Photo: Bureau of Land Management – Utah)
The majority of captured equines remain stuck for years, if not for the rest of their lives, in cramped holding facilities…
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