Homes urgently needed to thin Kaimanawa population
Kaimanawa wild horse numbers are rising so rapidly the Department of Conservation says it may need to look at euthanasia as a population control in the future.
DOC and Kaimanawa Heritage Horses have made an urgent appeal for experienced horse owners to come forward and re-home some of the wild horses from the Waiouru Military Training area after this year’s annual muster.
“Musters are held annually with an aim to maintain the herd of wild horses to approximately 300 individuals, a number set to protect fragile ecosystems and keep the wild population healthy,” DOC Central Plateau operations manager Dave Conley said. “Our latest aerial count shows 530 individuals in the herd. Ideally, we would like to re-home 230 horses.”
Time was running out as applications to re-home some of the horses closes on April 11.
Conley said there had been applications for only about 50 horses so far.
“However, this information is held by the re-homing group Kaimanawa Heritage Horses, and we won’t have an update until our next meeting.”
The Kaimanawa horse population had been steadily increasing due to a number of factors, such as Covid-19 and Cyclone Gabrielle, he said. “On top of this, it is becoming increasingly difficult to find appropriate homes for the horses.
“This year we will focus on re-homing as many as we can, and implementing our long-term plan of immuno-contraceptive population management.
“In the future, where re-homing is not an option, and the herd is beyond the carrying capacity of the land, humanely euthanising the horses will be considered as an option,” Conley said.
DOC had tentatively set the muster for around Anzac weekend. “This is very weather dependent as helicopters are used for the mustering,” Conley said. “Mustering usually takes around three to five days; this includes set up, mustering, and trucking the horses out – from there the re-homing groups take responsibility.”
Applicants could contact Kaimanawa Heritage Horses at muster@ kaimanawaheritagehorses.org or visit kaimanawaheritagehorses.org.