Wild horse cull decision challenged

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 13, Issue 637, 21 May 1996, Page 1

Wild horse cull decision challenged

By

Michele

Monaghan

Last week the headlines rang out. 'Death sentence for wild horses', 'Wild horse headache', 'Eliminating hundreds of wild horses may begin next month' . Sinee 1 993 the onset of winter has always signalled horse round-up time. The horses have roamed free around the North Island's Central Plateau for over 100 years, concentrating mainly in the Waiouru Army training area that is encompassed by. the Moawhango ecological district. The Kaimanawa Wild Horse Protection Zone was set up in 1 98 1 and since the early 1990's a management plan for the horses has been worked on. In 1991 a management strategy for the horses was released and then in 1 995 a draft management plan was formulated. This draft was finalised and sent to conservation minister Denis Marshall around September last year and last week was approved. The Kaimanawa Wild Horses Plan states that over the next two years horses from the northern area of the current range will be removed by various rneans including relocation and rounding-up for sale and slaughter. One thousand horses are to be eliminated. This is bad news for the Kaimanawa Wild Horse Preservation Society (KWHPS) who have two main complaints about the plan, a copy of which was only received last week. "We have been asking the minister to do a census for months now and he refuses pointblank," said KWHPS secretary Sarah Hulena. The society claims that the estimated population of 1300 to 1800 wild horses is incorrect and that 1000 is closer to the mark. "Besides, if they do a census then there's no doubt. Sure we ' 11 accept if we' re wrong, but we're fairly confident there are only 1000 horses out there," Mrs Hulena said. The second bugbear is the removal of the

horses from the northern range. 'The horses in the north are just so precious, and they are the ones they're going to move first. There is no evidence to (support the decision to) remove the horses. Studies done out there haven't even been subject to peer review," Mrs Hulena said. Army Training Group land management officer John Mangos would disagree. He has repeatedly said that wild horses do damage the land, especially the fragile subalpine region in the north of the training area. This sub-alpine region contains a number of rare and endangered plant species. Damage that would recover in five years under normal circumstances could take up to 60 years to recover in the subalpine region, Mr Mangos claims. The Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society would probably agree with him and have w elcomed plans to slaughter the horses saying the plan is a sound compromise that meets the needs of nature conservation, animal welfare and sustainable land management. Opinions on the genetic value of the Kaimanawa wild horses vary, but it is generally accepted that the horses in the north are of more intrinsic value than those in the south. A doctor from the Equine Blood Typing and Research Centre at Massey University was quoted in 1991 as saying there appears to be an interesting, possibly unique assortment of genetic markers in this population of horses. He also found a peculiar grouping of alleles in the blood which is indicative of inbreeding or linebreeding as a result ofa low population base in the past, he said. Claims that the culling of horses is a humane way of ensuring they don't starve to death is dismissed by the KWHPS as "absolute bull". "Nature' s way does not allow animals to Turn to Page 2

Wild horse cull decision challenged

FROMPAGEl breed when they're suffering and starving. The horses are used to the harsh conditions," Mrs Hulena said. Farce Mrs Hulena says the working party process used to formulate the plan was a farce. "We were the only party there representing the horses. Everybody else was against them when it came

to a vote." The working party consisted of representatives from the Royal New Zealand Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Ani-

mals, the Department of Conservation, the Royal Forest and Bird protection Society and the KWHPS. The International League for the Protection of Horses

formally withdrew from the working party on 1 February 1995. , 'They pulled out because it was a hostile environment. I think they didn't want to

be seen working with a system like that," Mrs Hulena said. The International League for the Protection of Horses could not be reached yesterday.