Free horses of domesticated horse ancestry
For information on never-domesticated horse species, see
Wild horse
.
A
feral horse
is a free-roaming
horse
of
domesticated
stock. As such, a
feral
horse is not a wild animal in the sense of an animal without domesticated ancestors. However, some populations of feral horses are managed as
wildlife
, and these horses often are popularly called "wild" horses. Feral horses are descended from domestic horses that strayed, escaped, or were deliberately released into the wild and remained to survive and reproduce there. Away from humans, over time, these animals' patterns of behavior revert to behavior more closely resembling that of wild horses. Some horses that live in a feral state but may be occasionally handled or managed by humans, particularly if privately owned, are referred to as "
semi-feral
".
Feral horses live in groups called a
herd
,
band
,
harem,
or
mob
. Feral horse herds, like those of
wild horses
, are usually made up of small harems led by a dominant
mare
, containing additional mares, their
foals
, and immature horses of both sexes. There is usually one herd
stallion
, though occasionally a few less-dominant males may remain with the group. Horse "herds" in the wild are best described as groups of several small bands who share the same territory. Bands are normally on the small side, as few as three to five animals, but sometimes over a dozen. The makeup of bands shift over time as young animals are driven out of the band they were born into and join other bands, or as young stallions challenge older males for dominance. However, in a closed
ecosystem
(such as the isolated refuges in which most feral horses live today), to maintain genetic diversity, the minimum size for a sustainable free-roaming horse or
burro
population is 150?200 animals.
[1]
Feral horse populations
[
edit
]
Americas
[
edit
]
The best-known examples of modern day "wild" horses are those of the American West. When
Europeans
reintroduced the horse to the Americas, beginning with the arrival of the Spanish
conquistadors
in the 15th century, some horses escaped and formed
feral
herds known today as
mustangs
. Isolated populations of wild horses occur in a number of places in the United States, including
Assateague Island
off the coast of
Virginia
and
Maryland
,
Cumberland Island, Georgia
,
Vieques
Island off the coast of
Puerto Rico
, and
Sable Island
off the coast of
Nova Scotia
, Canada. Some of these horses are said to be the descendants of horses that managed to swim to land when they were
shipwrecked
. Others may have been deliberately brought to various islands by settlers and either left to reproduce freely or abandoned when assorted human settlements failed.
Many prehistoric horse species, now
extinct
, evolved in North America, but the wild horses of today are the offspring of horses that were domesticated in Europe.
[2]
In the Western United States, certain bands of horses and
burros
are protected under the
Wild and Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971
. There are about 300,000 horses today in multiple land jurisdictions across the country, including tribal lands.
[3]
Asia
[
edit
]
The only truly wild horses in existence today are
Przewalski's horse
native to the steppes of central Asia.
A modern wild horse population (
janghali ghura
) is found in the Dibru-Saikhowa National Park and Biosphere reserve of
Assam
, in north-east
India
, and is a herd of about 79 horses descended from animals that escaped army camps during
World War II
.
[4]
Europe
[
edit
]
In
Portugal
, a population of free-ranging horses, known as
garrano
, lives in the northern mountain chains.
In County Kerry, Ireland, wild bog ponies have been known since at least the 1300s.
More than 700 feral wild horses live in the
foothills
of
Cincar
Mountain, between
Livno
and
Kupres
,
Bosnia and Herzegovina
, in an area of roughly 145 km
2
(56 sq mi). These animals, which descend from horses set free by their owners in the 1950s, enjoy a protected status since 2010.
[5]
In Sardinia lives the
Giara Horse
, a wild species which inhabits the
Giara di Gesturi
, a basaltic plateau in the southern central part of the island. The popolation is composed by about 700 horses.
[6]
Oceania
[
edit
]
Australia
has the largest population in the world, with about 400,000 horses.
[7]
The Australian name equivalent to the mustang is the
brumby
, descendants of horses brought to Australia by
English
settlers.
[8]
[9]
Modern feral horses
[
edit
]
Modern types of feral horses that have a significant percentage of their number living in a feral state, though domesticated representatives may exist, include these types,
landraces
, and breeds:
- Africa
- North America
- see also
Free-roaming horse management in North America
- Alberta Mountain Horse
or Alberta Wildie, in the foothills of the Eastern Slopes of the Rocky Mountains of
Alberta
,
Canada
- Banker horse
on the
Outer Banks
of
North Carolina
, United States
- Chincoteague Pony
on
Assateague Island
off the coasts of
Virginia
and
Maryland
, United States
- Cumberland Island horse
on
Cumberland Island
off the coast of southern
Georgia
, United States
- Elegesi Qiyus Wild Horse
(Cayuse) in the
Nemaiah Valley, British Columbia
, Canada
[10]
- Mustang
in the western
United States
, legally protected by the
Wild and Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971
- Nokota horse
in
North Dakota
, United States
- Sable Island horse
on
Sable Island
,
Nova Scotia
, Canada
- South America
- Lavradeiros
in northern
Brazil
[11]
- Small wild horses are established in the paramos of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in
Colombia
and are believed to have descended from introductions made by
Spanish conquistadors
.
[12]
- A small population of feral horses lives in the foothills of Cordillera Real next to the city of
La Paz
in
Bolivia
; these individuals wander the high-altitude grassland up to 4700 m above sea level. The origin of this highly endangered herd is not well-known.
- Asia
- Europe
- Oceania
Semi-feral horses
[
edit
]
In the
United Kingdom
, herds of free-roaming
ponies
live in apparently wild conditions in various areas, notably
Dartmoor
,
Exmoor
,
Cumbria
(Fell Pony), and the New Forest. Similar horse and pony populations exist elsewhere on the European continent. These animals, however, are not truly feral, as all of them are privately owned, and roam out on the
moors
and forests under common
grazing rights
belonging to their owners. A proportion of them are halter-broken, and a smaller proportion broken to ride, but simply turned out for a while for any of a number of reasons (e.g., a break in training to allow them to grow on, a break from working to allow them to breed under natural conditions, or retirement). In other cases, the animals may be government-owned and closely managed on controlled reserves.
- Camargue horse
, in marshes of the Rhone delta, southern France.
- Dartmoor pony
, England; predominantly domesticated, also lives in semi-feral herds.
- Exmoor pony
, England; predominantly domesticated, also lives in semi-feral herds.
- Fell pony
, predominantly domesticated, also lives in semi-feral herds in northern
England
, particularly
Cumbria
.
- Gotlandsruss
, lives in a semi-feral herd in
Lojsta Moor
on the Swedish Island of
Gotland
.
- New Forest pony
, predominantly domesticated, also lives in semi-feral herds in the area of
Hampshire
,
England
.
- Pottok
, predominantly domesticated, also lives in semi-feral herds in the western
Pyrenees
.
- Dulmen pony
, a German pony that lives in a wild herd in Westphalia with little help by humans.
- Shetland pony
, Scotland; predominantly used for riding, driving, and pack purposes.
Population impacts
[
edit
]
Feral populations are usually controversial, with
livestock
producers often at odds with horse aficionados and other
animal welfare
advocates. Different
habitats
are impacted in different ways by feral horses. Where feral horses had wild ancestors indigenous to a region, a controlled population may have minimal environmental impact, particularly when their primary territory is one where they do not compete with domesticated livestock to any significant degree. However, in areas where they are an
introduced species
, such as
Australia
, or if the population is allowed to exceed available range, there can be significant impacts on soil, vegetation (including
overgrazing
), and animals that are native species.
[8]
If a feral population lives close to civilization, their behavior can lead them to damage human-built livestock fencing and related structures.
[9]
In some cases, where feral horses compete with domestic livestock, particularly on public lands where multiple uses are permitted, such as in the
Western United States
, there is considerable controversy over which species is most responsible for degradation of
rangeland
, with commercial interests often advocating for the removal of the feral horse population to allow more grazing for
cattle
or
sheep
, and advocates for feral horses recommending reduction in the numbers of domestic livestock allowed to graze on public lands.
Certain populations have considerable historic or sentimental value, such as the
Chincoteague pony
that lives on
Assateague Island
, a
national seashore
with a delicate coastal ecosystem, or the
Misaki
pony of
Japan
that lives on a small refuge within the municipal boundaries of
Kushima
. These populations manage to thrive with careful management that includes using the animals to promote
tourism
to support the local economy. Most sustained feral populations are managed by various forms of
culling
, which, depending on the nation and other local conditions, may include capturing excess animals for adoption or sale. In some nations, management may include the often-controversial practice of selling captured animals for
slaughter
or simply shooting them.
[19]
Fertility control
is also sometimes used, though it is expensive and has to be repeated on a regular basis.
[20]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign"
.
wildhorsepreservation.com
. Archived from
the original
on 21 November 2011
. Retrieved
21 May
2015
.
- ^
"Feral Horses: Get The Facts"
(PDF)
. The Wildlife Society. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on 5 March 2012
. Retrieved
4 April
2012
.
- ^
Kathryn A. Schoenecker, Sarah R.B. King, Terry A. Messmer (2021).
The Wildlife Profession's Duty in Achieving Science-Based Sustainable Management of Free-Roaming Equids
.
The Journal of Wildlife Management
.
85
: 1057?1061.
doi
:
10.1002/jwmg.22091
.
- ^
Dibru-Saikhowa National Park and Biosphere reserve
Archived
11 June 2010 at the
Wayback Machine
- ^
"Pu?teni da slobodno ?ive u prirodi: Livanjski divlji konji ? jednistvena atrakcija u Europi"
.
Novi list
(in Croatian). HINA. 2 August 2015
. Retrieved
6 June
2017
.
- ^
"Sezione del cavallo della Giara"
.
Museo del Cavallino della Giara
(in Italian)
. Retrieved
10 January
2024
.
- ^
"Pest animal risk assessment ? Feral Horse"
(PDF)
. Queensland Primary Industries and Fisheries. June 2009. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on 16 March 2011
. Retrieved
17 December
2010
.
- ^
a
b
Nimmo, D. G.; Miller, K. K. (2007). "Ecological and human dimensions of management of feral horses in Australia: A review".
Wildlife Research
.
34
(5): 408?417.
doi
:
10.1071/WR06102
.
- ^
a
b
Dobbie, W. R.; Berman, D.; Braysher, M. L. (1993).
Managing Vertebrate Pests: Feral horses
. Canberra: Australian Government Publishing Service.
ISBN
0644252863
.
- ^
SMS VSIP Consulting Inc.
"Wild Horses"
.
fonv.ca
. Retrieved
21 May
2015
.
- ^
Farid, Zain.
"lavradeiros Feral Horse"
. Retrieved
19 December
2015
.
- ^
Long, J. L. 2003. Introduced Mammals of the World: Their History, Distribution and Influence (Cabi Publishing) by John L. Long (
ISBN
9780851997483
)
- ^
"Wild horse sanctuary for Sri Lanka's Delft Island"
.
www.horsetalk.co.nz
. Horse Talk. 26 December 2013. Archived from
the original
on 29 November 2016
. Retrieved
29 November
2016
.
- ^
"The Independent Spirit of Turkey: Wild Horse"
.
- ^
"Konik - Equus caballus var. konik | World"
.
world.observation.org
. Retrieved
10 March
2023
.
- ^
"Grote grazers Oostvaardersplassen"
.
Staatsbosbeheer
(in Dutch)
. Retrieved
10 March
2023
.
- ^
"Daily Post: Latest North Wales news, sport, what's on and business"
.
northwales
. Archived from
the original
on 9 March 2012
. Retrieved
21 May
2015
.
- ^
"Meet the last horsemen of these paradise islands"
.
Travel
. 20 December 2018. Archived from
the original
on 24 December 2018
. Retrieved
24 December
2018
.
- ^
Nimmo, D. G.; Miller, K.; Adams, R. (2007). "Managing feral horses in Victoria: A study of community attitudes and perceptions".
Ecological Management & Restoration
.
8
(3): 237?243.
doi
:
10.1111/j.1442-8903.2007.00375.x
.
hdl
:
10536/DRO/DU:30007265
.
- ^
Bomford, M., & O'Brien, P. (1993).
"Potential use of contraception for managing wildlife pests in Australia"
Archived
20 August 2010 at the
Wayback Machine
. USDA National Wildlife Research Center Symposia. Retrieved on 12 May 2008.