Wild horse advocates worry about Alberta's plans to thin herds
Alberta's wild horses are once again being targeted by the province and once again, it's spurring concern.
"What is the problem? Why are the horses such a burr under their saddle?" said Darrell Glover, who has run the Help Alberta Wildies Society (HAWS) since 2014.
A decade ago, the province counted 880 wild horses.
In 2024, it says there are 1,478.
Back then, a cull was halted after stiff opposition.
Now, the province has new plans to manage the population.
Alberta's wild horses are once again being targeted by the province and once again it's spurring concern. (Image courtesy Darrell Glover)
"There's no cull going on," said Forestry and Parks Minister Todd Loewen.
This time, the province says no horses will be killed – instead, some will be given birth control and others will be adopted.
Glover has rescued some abandoned foals but says not all wild horses are adoptable and reducing the population could lead to its demise.
"By removing their bloodlines, it's essentially a cull anyway," Glover said.
The province says wild horses are destroying land.
"Feral horses are a factor, as are other things," Loewen said.
Wild horse researchers disagree.
"It's not science-based," said Glover, who has been keeping records on the population and its environmental impacts for 10 years.
Alberta's wild horses are once again being targeted by the province and once again it's spurring concern. (Image courtesy Darrell Glover)
"(Wild horses) are part of the ecosystem and they have benefits to the ecosystem," said wildlife biologist Wayne McCrory.
McCrory's latest report follows one he wrote in 2015 exposing the lack of evidence supporting a cull.
Wild horses caused very little damage to the land, according to that report.
It found most damage was caused by things like clear-cut logging, oil and gas development, off-road vehicles and cattle.
"(The province) should be focusing on restructuring the health from the cumulative effects, not just scapegoating the wild horses," McCrory said.
Alberta's wild horses are once again being targeted by the province and once again it's spurring concern. (Image courtesy Darrell Glover)
The minister says he consulted a committee, which agreed to the plan once the horse population hit a threshold.
"Everybody on the committee knew exactly how the numbers were going to be derived," Loewen said.
Some members of that committee disagree.
"There's a lot of discrepancy involved," Glover said.
Glover and McCrory say bears and cougars, the elements and humans are already decreasing the population, and Alberta should pass legislation to protect its wild horses.
"Once they're gone, you can't replace this unique species," Glover said.
The province has not said when it might move forward with population control plans.
Members of the committee suspect it may happen this winter.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Donald Trump picks former U.S. congressman Pete Hoekstra as ambassador to Canada
U.S. president-elect Donald Trump has nominated former diplomat and U.S. congressman Pete Hoekstra to be the American ambassador to Canada.
Genetic evidence backs up COVID-19 origin theory that pandemic started in seafood market
A group of researchers say they have more evidence to suggest the COVID-19 pandemic started in a Chinese seafood market where it spread from infected animals to humans. The evidence is laid out in a recent study published in Cell, a scientific journal, nearly five years after the first known COVID-19 outbreak.
This is how much money you need to make to buy a house in Canada's largest cities
The average salary needed to buy a home keeps inching down in cities across Canada, according to the latest data.
Canada's space agency invites you to choose the name of its first lunar rover
The Canadian Space Agency (CSA) is inviting Canadians to choose the name of the first Canadian Lunar Rover.
'My two daughters were sleeping': London Ont. family in shock after their home riddled with gunfire
A London father and son they’re shocked and confused after their home was riddled with bullets while young children were sleeping inside.
Smuggler arrested with 300 tarantulas strapped to his body
Police in Peru have arrested a man caught trying to leave the country with 320 tarantulas, 110 centipedes and nine bullet ants strapped to his body.
Boissonnault out of cabinet to 'focus on clearing the allegations,' Trudeau announces
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced embattled minister Randy Boissonnault is out of cabinet.
Baby dies after being reported missing in midtown Toronto: police
A four-month-old baby is dead after what Toronto police are calling a “suspicious incident” at a Toronto Community Housing building in the city’s midtown area on Wednesday afternoon.
Sask. woman who refused to provide breath sample did not break the law, court finds
A Saskatchewan woman who refused to provide a breath sample after being stopped by police in Regina did not break the law – as the officer's request was deemed not lawful given the circumstances.