CALGARY, Alberta, Nov. 26, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Zoocheck, a group working to protect Alberta’s wild horses, just released a new technical review of the 2015 Rangeland Health Reports, the documents used by the Alberta government to inform their wild horse management decisions, shows that the vast majority of rangeland damage has occurred from clearcut logging, oil and gas, off-road recreational activities, cattle grazing, invasive species and other activities. Wild horses are responsible for less than 5% of reported damage.
According to review author, professional agrologist Brian de Kock, “There are complex reasons for the decline in rangeland health in the eastern slopes. These reports provide overwhelming evidence that the vast majority of the impacts to the rangeland health are caused by factors other than wild horses,” says de Kock. “There is absolutely no justification for arbitrary, non-scientific thresholds, culls, or other unnecessary population control measures of wild horses that will do little, if anything, to protect and restore rangeland health since wild horses are not responsible for the vast majority of the impacts.”
The objective of having a professional agrologist review the 2015 Rangeland Health Reports was to determine specifically what impact, if any, the wild horses are having on the foothills rangeland health as compared to other human activities, given that the government has always said these reports have been used to determine management plans for wild horses and other factors impacting the ecosystem.
According to Julie Woodyer, Campaigns Director of wildlife protection group Zoocheck, “The government is ready to separate wild horse families, which causes serious harm to the horses and their social groups, for no legitimate reason. This new review shows there is little or no evidence that horses are a problem and that additional management of other activities impacting the landscape is what’s required.”
Woodyer adds, “The fact that it took 8 years for us to acquire the rangeland health reports would seem to indicate that the government knew all along that their data didn’t support the management of wild horses. We are now trying to obtain the rangeland reports from more recent years, but the government is reluctant to release that data as well, so the issue is currently under review by the Information Commissioner’s Officer.”
With no compelling evidence supporting wild horse removals, Zoocheck, in cooperation with Alberta wild horse protection groups and residents, is calling on all concerned Albertans to contact Premier Danielle Smith urging her to call off any management of wild horses in the province this winter.
Link to the report: https://www.zoocheck.com/ab-rangeland-review/
Brian de Kock, Alberta based Professional Agrologist 403-561-6717
Julie Woodyer, Campaigns Director, Zoocheck 416-451-5976
Zoocheck is a national wildlife protection organization who has been fighting for the wellbeing of wild horses in Alberta since 1994.
