‘Only fittest and fortunate survive’

The chocolate box image of horses have blinded law makers to what is in fact just another exotic pest animal.

Sometime in the next few days the two yearly round-up of wild horses in the Kaimanawa Ranges near Waiouru will get under way.

It will be the largest muster in two decades, with 300 horses, about half of the known wild population, to be culled out and available for allocation.

So far, only 66 horses have been allotted and applications for horses close in a few days.

The regular round-up is designed to keep the herd to around 300 in an attempt to find some sort of balance with the unique ecology of volcanic plateau fragile ecosystems, particularly in the unique Moawhango area.

This region, like all of New Zealand, evolved over millions of years without hoofed, grazing animals.

From a purely ecological point of view wild horses do not belong there.

They are unwanted exotic introductions descended from abandoned military mounts and escaped domestic horses.

They are not a true breed in themselves. In Australia such horses are known as brumbies, a derogative term for horses of unknown breeding and poor quality.

With each round-up comes anguish from the equestrian community who struggle to find homes for the horses which, if we were consistent in our wild animal and pest control legislation, should never have been given legal protection.

In reality these wild horses are no different to rats and mice on off shore islands, which the Department of Conservation spends millions of dollars to eradicate, feral sheep in the Marlborough Sounds, rabbits and wallabies in Canterbury or feral deer and pigs in our national parks.

It is ironic that, in spite of the demands and requests of New Zealand’s extensive wild animal hunting lobby, and the millions of dollars contributed to the New Zealand economy by visiting recreational hunters, wild deer and pigs remain listed as pests with no legal protection.

They can be, and often are, shot from helicopters and poisoned not to keep numbers down but to eradicate them where possible.

Even the big elk or wapiti of Fiordland National Park, an internationally prized and sought after trophy animal were rounded up and removed to a farm leaving only a remnant and interbred population surviving in the wild.

If there were anything other than horses running wild in the Kaimanawa Ranges they would also be treated as pests but the chocolate box image of horses have blinded law makers to what is in fact just another exotic pest animal.

The surplus horses will be offered to people who want them and those left will go for slaughter. Those who have taken the horses in and trained them speak highly of them in spite of an unearned reputation for aggression and health problems.

In the harsh winters and rugged conditions of Kaimanawa only the fittest and the fortunate survive and, over a hundred years or more, this has no doubt developed a hybrid toughness and vigour many other purpose bred horses don’t have. In the wild there are no drenches for parasites, farriers to keep feet healthy or covers to keep out the cold.

Like any animal they will respond to skilled handling and gentle treatment and most Kaimanawa horses rescued from the regular culling round-up have turned into useful mounts.

Sadly for those who have a soft spot for horses there are only so many people who have room for them.

The only logical fate for the rest is pet food which is where the anguish comes in but the harsh reality is that there is no other use for them.

They can’t be returned to the wild and hopefully none will end up as rodeo mounts.

If the Department of Conservation was true to its philosophy the Kaimanawa horses would have been eradicated long ago but that is now unlikely to ever happen regardless of the contradictions and lack of ecological logic in letting them remain.

With that in mind perhaps it is time for the same logic to be applied to other introduced wild animals which many people value.

The purists may argue that all introduced species which have an adverse impact on New Zealand’s native and indigenous wildlife should be eradicated where possible.

At the top of that list would be us, our dogs, cats and cattle as well as rats, stoats and possums.

It is time for a special, place in our biodiversity legislation for some protection for valued exotics with logical management plans and systems.

That should include alongside wild horses, feral deer and pigs.