DoC plans 1000 horse cull

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 14, Issue 660, 29 October 1996, Page 4

DoC plans 1000 horse cull

Plans by Department of Conservation to capture up to 1000 Kaimanawa wild horses in April and offer them for sale were made public last week. Regional conservator Bill Carlin said those not sold, either privately or through a planned auction, would gotoan abattoir for slaughter. Discussions were under way over a proposed trust that could take responsibility for unsold horses but Mr Carlin was doubtful of it happening. The northern zone would be cleared of an estimated 300 horses, and about 500 horses would be left in the southern zone. Porinui Station, the site

of the previous three auctiOns, was no longer available, so an alternative site was being sought, with horses trucked there. Mr Carlin said planning for the cull was still to be done. Defence land on the western side of State Highway 1 was to be assessed as a possible home for a proposed additional herd of 300. If that land were not suitable all the horses except the 500 would be offered for sale. Horse welfare groups and the department had been receiving the names of people wanting to buy horses. As with previous auctions, those names would be vetted by MAF and the RSPCA.

Mr Carlin said that in the past many people registered but few had the land, qualified as buyers and bought at auction. The numbers sold had steadily declined as the market had become saturated. "At our last auction, we had 70 people say they were interested and six turned up. Very few horses were sold, and no one generally wanted anything older than a foal or yearling." A reserve price equivalent to abattoir value, about $150-$200, would be put on the horses auctioned. Chased Meanwhile, DoC staff were chasing horses away from the Desert Road last week with vehicles and heli-

copters, concerned at the hazard to motorists. It was reported that several horses

were regularly in the vicinity of the state highway as well as the Army camp.