HAWS disputes a reported 51% population jump, saying the province's survey flew extra kilometres to inflate counts.
Authors: Doug Ferguson | Date: October 19, 2023 | Website: https://www.producer.com/livestock/alta-group-questions-results-of-provinces-horse-survey/
This agricultural-trade publication covers HAWS's challenge to the province's newly released Feral Horse Management Framework and the survey data behind it. The framework reported at least 969 horses in the Sundre zone in 2023, a 51 percent jump from 642 the year before — a figure HAWS disputes as misleading. Darrell Glover said the provincial survey team flew roughly 500 additional kilometres within the zone compared to 2022, which HAWS argues artificially inflated the count by covering more territory and counting horses that wouldn't previously have been included. HAWS said it conducts its own independent, parallel aerial survey each year using the same flight pattern as the government specifically to keep officials accountable, then publishes its comparative results publicly. Because The Western Producer serves a farming and ranching readership, the piece also situates the dispute within the broader cattle-versus-horses grazing conflict that underlies much of the province's feral horse policy debate.