The wild horses of Alberta

Myths And Realities And The Resolve to Save Them

Authors: Sue Chikie | Date: July 2, 2024 | Website: https://www.vermilionvoice.com/post/the-wild-horses-of-alberta-myths-and-realities-and-the-resolve-to-save-them

This article describes a media tour of Alberta’s Sundre area, led by Darrell Glover of the Help Alberta Wildies Society (HAWS), which has spent about a decade working to protect the region’s wild horses and their rare Spanish bloodlines. Glover argues the horses aren’t the main threat to their rangeland habitat. He blames cattle, which are more numerous and eat far more forage, along with forestry, which he says has the largest impact.

The article also covers a transparency dispute: the government hasn’t released rangeland health reports beyond 2015, and Zoocheck Canada has spent eight years requesting the data. Alberta’s privacy commissioner recently ordered the 2015 reports released. Finally, the piece says predators help keep horse numbers in check, and that the population has been stable since 2018 and is now declining.