Alberta’s wild horses are once again being targeted by the province, causing concern once again.

“What’s the matter? Why are there so many burrs under the horses’ saddles?” Darrell Glover, who has run the Help Alberta Wildies Society (HAWS) since 2014, said:

Ten years ago, 880 wild horses were counted in the state.

It is said to be 1,478 in 2024.

The cull was halted after fierce opposition at the time.

Now the state has new plans to manage the population.

Alberta’s wild horses are once again being targeted by the province, causing concern once again. (Image courtesy of Darrell Glover)

“There is no culling,” said Minister of Forestry and Parks Todd Loewen.

The state says this time no horses will be killed, instead some will be given birth control and some will be adopted.

Glover rescued some abandoned foals, but said not all wild horses are adopted and reducing the population could lead to the death of the foals.

“Extinction is essentially a culling,” Glover said.

The state says wild horses are destroying the land.

“Wild horses are a factor like any other thing,” Loewen said.

Wild horse researchers disagree.

“This is not based on science,” said Glover, who has been keeping records of population and its environmental impacts for 10 years.

Alberta’s wild horses are once again being targeted by the province, causing concern once again. (Image courtesy of Darrell Glover)

“(Wild horses) are part of the ecosystem and they have benefits to the ecosystem,” said wildlife biologist Wayne McCrory.

McCrory’s latest report is a follow-up to his 2015 report, which found there was no evidence supporting the cull.

The wild horses caused little damage to the land, according to the report.

It turned out that most of the damage was caused by logging, oil and gas development, off-road vehicles and cattle.

“(The state) should focus on rebuilding health from cumulative impacts, rather than just scapegoating wild horses,” McCrory said.

Alberta’s wild horses are once again being targeted by the province, causing concern once again. (Image courtesy of Darrell Glover)

The minister said he consulted a committee that adopted the plan once the horse population reached a certain threshold.

“Everyone on the committee knew exactly how to get the numbers,” Loewen said.

Some members of the committee disagree with this view.

“There’s a lot of inconsistency,” Glover said.

Glover and McCrory say populations of bears and cougars, wildlife and humans are already declining, and Alberta needs to legislate to protect its wild horses.

“Once they’re gone, you can’t replace this unique species,” Glover said.

The state has not said when it might move forward with its population control plans.

Committee members suspect it could happen this winter.