HAWS argues predators keep wild horse numbers static or declining, contradicting the province's 2023 population increase claims.
Author: Haley Carter | Date: October 4, 2023 | Website: https://strathmorenow.com/articles/wild-horse-population-still-on-a-decline-
This article gives HAWS extended room to make its case that Alberta's wild horse population isn't growing at all, despite what the province's 2023 census suggested. Glover argued that natural predators — grizzlies, black bears and wolves — have kept numbers in check since 2018, and that the population is actually static or declining. He pointed out that HAWS's own 2023 count, which followed the same flight path the government used in 2022, found only 684 horses in the Sundre zone, an increase of just 4 percent (25 horses) over the prior year — starkly different from the province's reported 51 percent jump. The piece also reports that HAWS met with the government's Rangeland Director to challenge the census methodology, and notes a small win: officials agreed to share their planned flight paths with HAWS in advance starting in 2024 so the group could run a genuinely parallel count.