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Alberta Canada government-backed wild horse capture irks advocates

Posted by on January 23, 2014

Alberta government-backed wild horse capture irks advocates

By ,Calgary Sun

First posted: | Updated:

On the Road: Mike Drew with wild horses_1
Wild horses west of Sundre, Alta., on Thursday October 24, 2013. Mike Drew/Calgary Sun/QMI Agency

Advocates for Alberta’s wild horses say the provinces’ decision to launch a capture season for the animals is unnecessary.

“We’re upset,” said Bob Henderson, president of the Wild Horses of Alberta Society (WHOAS) of news Tuesday that the province would grant permits for the capture of 200 feral horses to control the population and lessen the impact on the land and on the supply of food sources shared with other species.

Henderson said the number of foals that have joined the herd in the last year or so is “minimal,” and said with some harsh conditions so far this winter, nature is helping with population control already.

“A lot of them aren’t going to make it, we’ve already found the remains of a few out there,” he said.

“There’s absolutely no need to have a capture.

“The horses actually benefit the ecosystem, they coexist with a lot of it.”

Nikki Booth, a spokeswoman for Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development (ESRD), said the horses are not a native species and because they have no natural predators their population can grow quickly.

It’s estimated there are about 940 of them in the province, ranging from Kananaskis to Nordegg.

She said each year the province looks at the numbers to decide if there will be a capture season, in which applicants are vetted for licences to humanely catch the horses alive.

The horses captured then become the responsibility of the people who catch them.

“Some people sell them to slaughter, but a lot of people will use the horses for recreational use or personal use on their farms,” she said.

Last winter there was no capture season, however this winter there will be one, starting immediately and running until March 1, she said.

“We’re trying to keep a balance in the ecosystem,” said Booth.

“There’s only so many food sources on the land.”

jenna.mcmurray@sunmedia.ca

 

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