Last Stand for the Wild Horse
The population of an American icon is at levels some scientists are calling unsustainable; thank the federal government and the beef industry
By Deanne Stillman
More than half of the countless horses that Spanish colonists brought to the Americas died on the way, thrown overboard to lighten the loads when the galleons sailed into calm seas along the equator. This part of the Atlantic is still known as the “horse latitudes.” Descendants of the horses that survived the treacherous crossings make up the herds of wild horses roaming the West today. And while nominally protected by federal law, they are still being sent to their deaths. This time it's at the hands of the US government.
Last month, a public outcry and a philanthropist's plan to relocate the horses earned thousands of mustangs a temporary reprieve from a federal “euthanasia” plan. But whether the wild horse can be saved is still in doubt; as I write, we are down to our last 23,000 horses on public lands in the western states. This is a number that experts say may not be sustainable.
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Comments
I really hope Mrs. Pickens comes thru for the wild ones, like she did for her own Cigar and Fraise. I think she will.
I have requested that she contact me when she decides to hire since I have lots of horse experience, am willing to relocate, and have an overwhelming desire to help!
Posted by:Filly |December 8, 2008 5:51 PM
What a poignant story of vulnerable creatures of such beauty, strength and Darwinian fortitude. Like Native Americans, first given protections of "treaties" and grants to their own land, these magnificent animals need the swell of grassroots to protect them - as do all who are not wallowing in greed & money. Thank God the end of the Bush years is less than 2 months away...perhaps if we all work together we can repair the horrors this administration wrought against us, the Earth & many other organisms they could harm.
Posted by:celt |December 11, 2008 7:51 PM