It’s hard to miss the horses on the way to the mountains.

They’ve established free-roaming populations throughout the foothills and grasslands of Alberta’s eastern slopes, with herds of wild horses almost guaranteed to be seen off Highway 1 west of Calgary year-round.

But the abundance of what the Alberta government calls “feral horses” has reached “unacceptable” levels, according to the province’s horse management strategy.

  • CapuccinoCoretto@lemmy.world
    18·
    2 days ago

    Framing is important. “Wild” anything is precious and rare. Human civilization has swallowed most earth systems for it’s own purposes, leaving very little wild left anywhere.

    I suggest we leave the horses alone and consider our footprint as the one needing a fix.

    • Auli@lemmy.caEnglish
      4·
      2 days ago

      They are not wild. They are an invasive species that we brought here.

        • Auli@lemmy.caEnglish
          3·
          2 days ago

          And what is your point. These horses are jot native here as they are alive. And the"horses" that lived here where not the ones that are here now.

          • SeductiveTortoise@piefed.socialEnglish
            2·
            2 days ago

            My point is, what sbv wrote wasn’t true, so I added additional info. How dare I, right? Knowledge is the enemy 😭

            Critics of the idea that the North American wild horse is a native animal, using only selected paleontological data, assert that the species, E. caballus (or the caballoid horse), which was introduced in 1519, was a different species from that which disappeared between 13,000–11,000 years before. Herein lies the crux of the debate. However, neither paleontological opinion nor modern molecular genetics support the contention that the modern horse in North America is non-native.

        • sbv@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
          5·
          2 days ago

          That’s really interesting. Thanks for those links.

          IMO the question is whether current ecosystems are degraded by the reintroduction of horses. It sounds like they have a negative impact on existing ungulates and (maybe?) soils.

          I don’t know enough to say if an ecosystem that has existed for 12,000 years without horses that has horses reintroduction, is being degraded or returned to its previous state.

          • girlfreddy@lemmy.caOP
            11·
            2 days ago

            As an aside the main reason Marlaina is pushing for a large cull (based on quack numbers) is because the cattle ranchers push for it every year.

            Removing the horses won’t help the environment because they’ll just be replaced by herds of cattle.