Alberta calls feral horse populations “unacceptable”; HAWS's independent aerial survey finds far fewer horses than the province claims.
Author: Amir Said | Date: May 3, 2026 | Website: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/alberta-horses-wild-feral-9.7180959
This CBC article covers the release of the province's 2026 feral horse survey and HAWS's rebuttal. The survey found at least 2,072 wild horses across six equine management zones, the highest count on record, with Sundre, Ghost River, Elbow and Clearwater deemed ecologically unsustainable, prompting Forestry and Parks Minister Todd Loewen to describe population control as necessary to protect cattle grazing land. The 2023 feral horse management framework lists removal, adoption and contraception as control strategies. In the Sundre zone specifically, the province's count of at least 1,303 horses is the highest ever recorded there and the first time since 2018 the 1,000-horse threshold has been exceeded. Darrell Glover, who founded HAWS in 2014, disputes the province's data, saying his organization's own aerial survey — using his decades of piloting experience — counted roughly 1,005 horses, only marginally over the threshold. The piece captures the deepening rift between government population science and HAWS's independent monitoring, with contraception and removal policy hanging on which numbers prevail.