Pending Alberta wild horse “cull” not supported by evidence
Alberta government officials have now made it clear they intend to once again cull wild horse numbers by capturing animals and “adopting them out”. The removal of wild horses would occur over the next several months, but decisions are now being made.
Alberta’s wild horses, an ecologically, culturally and historically important wild species, have been scapegoated for rangeland damage caused by human activities for years. The Government of Alberta has no plans to address human-caused damage to the foothills ecosystems, but instead are focusing their efforts on the tiny numbers of of free-roaming wild horses that still exist.
The Alberta Government has also indicated they may engage in a program of immuno-contraception to suppress the ability of mares to have foals. With a remarkably small wild horse population, numbering just 1,500 wild horses, currently in the entire province, these activities could drive the animals to the brink of extinction in Alberta.
All of the activities associated with wild horse culls are not only traumatic and cruel to the horses being removed, they also cause disruption, distress and trauma to the horse families and social groups they came from.
In addition to being an ecologically valuable component of Alberta’s wild landscapes and ecosystems, wild horses also have tremendous potential economic value to Albertans. The proximity of wild horses to Calgary and Red Deer, make them among the most accessible and easy to view wild horses in the world, for Canadians and for international tourists from around the world.
The Alberta government developed a new management framework for wild horses in 2023, but they excluded:
- Virtually all of the of relevant scientific studies and articles that show how ecologically beneficial wild horses are. Instead the Alberta government relied on only 5 papers hand-picked by government staff,
- Traditional First Nations knowledge about wild horses and their cultural, historical and ecological role in Alberta,
- The rangeland health data the government itself pays for and relies on in their decision-making processes regarding wild horses,
- Scientific studies that show wild horses should be considered Albertan native wildlife as they originally emerged in North America and co-evolved with the other fauna and flora in Alberta.
See the details in Science Review of 2023 Alberta Feral Horse Management Framework.
TAKE ACTION NOW
Email Alberta’s Premier Danielle Smith. Ask her to end Alberta’s campaign to reduce wild horse numbers and, instead to invoke protections for wild horses, whose numbers are already small, and who are under ever increasing pressure from natural mortality, due to weather and predation, and the private interests who seek to eradicate them.
If you are a resident of Alberta please ensure to include that in your letter and also write to your own MLA asking for the wild horses to be recategorized as naturalized wildlife and given protection from further persecution.
Act now before it is too late!
Click here to email Premier Danielle Smith
A full list of Alberta MLA’s can be found at HERE .