Province aims to use contraceptive to manage 'unacceptable' horse populations
Author: Kevin Newman | Date: December 4, 2015 | Website: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOp0j7BtxHE
This 2015 W5 report, hosted by Kevin Newman, examines Alberta’s decade-long program of capturing wild horses in the foothills near Sundre, which the government justifies by saying the horses overgraze land that cattle also use. Roughly 900 horses were counted, and about 400 had been removed over the past decade, with 50 more approved in 2015. Advocates like Darrell Glover argue there’s no proof of damage and suspect cattle ranchers are influencing government policy. Biologist Wayne McCrory says he found no independent studies showing harm, and calls the range health assessments, which are paid for by a ranchers’ association, subjective. Ranchers counter that too many horses force them to buy feed, and want numbers cut roughly in half.
W5’s own freedom of information requests turned up only a 2012 study that didn’t blame horses alone, and no records on what population level is sustainable. In an interview, a provincial policy director couldn’t point to a specific area of range damage or say how many horses is the right number, and she declined to answer whether the government is too close to the cattle industry. The report notes the horse population fell by 200 in 2015, to about 700, and that some captured horses, sold at auction, struggle to adapt. It ends by saying the government planned to expand its adoption program while still deciding on further captures.